Saints & Sinners
by ayla darrow
Summary: Sequel to Woodstock. Ayla is summoned by the Scoobies who request her to become a part of the team and she bunks with Buffy, Willow and Dawn. But a demon comes with disturbing news and Ayla is compelled to seek comfort with Spike.
1. Silver

**A/n:** _This is pretty much a sequel to Woodstock so reading that would really explain everything that's going on. But I suppose you could survive without reading it, but you'd just be a lot more confused otherwise. I have no idea where I'm going with this, but bear with me. Oh and just so you know, it'll probably have a lot of Spike/OC kind of stuff. Read and enjoy! Reviews would be nice! Hearing from readers is very encouraging! ;D_

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><p>Let's face it, dying is a drag and spending the rest of her days in heaven- or hell, wherever a Slayer would have gone, didn't appeal to Ayla. When she had woken up to find Hector in her room she had thought she was the victim of a stalker and she had finally thought that someone cared enough about the things she did that they had followed her… to thank her. But no, he was just a bloody rue demon. Oh, they spent hours talking about Woodstock, because that was where her regret lay. Being with Spike had been the biggest blunder of her life and the worst thing was, for Ayla at least, was the fact that he had seen through her and if she had never found out that he was a vampire, he would have caught her heart.<p>

But alas his girlfriend, or whatever she was, just had to show up and ensnare him again. Oh, but the woman was beautiful and the fight, it had enthralled Ayla completely, even as the stake had reached through and caused some serious damage to her lung. Not even her Slayer healing could prevent her from scarring up badly. His touch lingered for weeks and she would dream about their night together every single time she closed her eyes, until Hector showed up and offered to relieve her of her pain. And he did more than that, he took away the pain and allowed her to help others the way he had helped her.

Ironic bit, a Slayer becoming a demon. She was supposed to be the one who slayed the demons and the vampires, ridding the world of evil. Of course, her purpose was all nice and good and all. It wasn't like she was out to destroy the world or cause mayhem. All she did was relieve people of their misery and allow them to step into the next phase of life, or technically, death. And it brought her all over the world. From Iceland to China and from the shores of Spain to Alaska. More than thirty years of nearly perfect teleportation gave you an option to really go out as see the world.

"Hey, lemme just buy that bottle over 'ere," a petite girl with long, wavy red hair slurred, pulling out thirty dollars from her wallet. "Look missy, I don't think you can handle that. You know that that's whiskey and a littl'un like you probably won't handle a bottle well," Willy warned- his voice shaky. She looked normal enough but he had a knack for telling demons apart from humans and there was no doubt in his mind that this girl wasn't human. She slammed her fist into the bar, breaking the wood. "I know what that is, it's peach whiskey. Now, if you don't accept my generous donation, you and me, we're going to have to boogie," she threatened, her eyes filled with anger. Not wanting his bar to be wrecked one more time, Willy shrugged and accepted the money before handing the bottle to the redhead. "I wouldn't recommend drinking it all in one go-"before he said anything else the girl was standing up and walking towards the exit of the bar. "I'm no candyass, man," she said, strutting out of the bar.

Man, Sunnydale was a drag. If she hadn't sensed a very powerful regret, she wouldn't even have bothered to come to this town but she could feel something else tuggin' at her. There was more to this town than regrets and a Hellmouth. There was _always_ something more in a town with a Hellmouth. Last time she had been in one she had wound up spending the night with a human member of the Hellions and managed to make some permanent enemies when she relieved him of his regrets in the morning. That was what she did, relieved pain, physical, emotional… Any sort she could.

"Bring it on, Sunnydale!" she said loudly, shouting into the darkness. She was prepared for anything. She still had the skills she had gained as a Slayer and to top it off she had the extra strength she had gained as a demon. She didn't go around unarmed either, she was always equipped with the dagger she had stabbed Spike with and the wooden oak he had used to pierce her with. Once a Slayer, always a Slayer.

"Oi, a little thing like you shouldn't be running loose on the streets," a rough voice called from the direction that Ayla had just come from. Turning around, she was faced with two very hungry looking vampires that stood only a few feet away. She scowled. "You vampires never learn to keep your distance?" she asked, opening the bottle of peach flavored whiskey, taking a large swig before closing it and putting it down. "And you ladies never learn that you don't stand a chance," the dark haired one said before lounging at her.

"Pigs," Ayla said, drawing out her weapons as she began to fight them off. Oh yes, even though she was drunk she still had those Slayer skills. Still tough enough to stand her ground in a fight against vampires.

From afar, a certain blond vampire was making his way to Willy's bar, only to hear the commotion that was going on. Oh, vamps attacking another victim, out in the streets. "Bloody buffoons," he mumbled as he kept on walking until he actually saw what was going on. Somebody was fighting off two vampires and, knowing Sunnydale, there was only one person who was fully capable of handling herself in that kind of fight. Rushing in, wanting to help Buffy, Spike tackle the vampire that wasn't being kicked by her. Oh, he loved himself some violence. Then he heard the familiar sound of a vamp being dusted. "Slayer, stake!" he called out, not desperate, but wanting to finish the fight off. It flew right at him, without caution or very much precision. "Bloody hell woman," he mumbled as he ducked a punch from the vamp and stuck the stake through his heart.

"How you do always managed to get attack, pet?" he muttered as he surveyed the area. The streets, open place. "These vamps have no shame, trying to attack someone in the middle of the street like this," he said, suddenly stopping dead in his tracks when he noticed a bottle. "Oh, Slayer's starting to loosen up I see," he said, picking up the bottle. "Peach whiskey?" he questioned, turning around to look at the woman he had just assisted. "Oh bloody hell," he shouted in aggravation when he realized that he was standing in front of that… that bloody girl. "Stake?" she demanded, opening her palm. He looked at it and realized that it was the stake he had used to stab her. He threw it to her with little effort.

"I knew I smelt stupidity as soon as I entered this town," Ayla commented, walking over to him and yanking up the bottle of whiskey before chugging down a good amount of sips.. She offered him some, knowing that he had a love of alcohol and free was probably something he preferred. Spike yanked the bottle and drowned himself in whiskey, that is, if he could have drowned. "They summon you already? That was bloody fast work," he asked, finding himself walking with her as she took off in the opposite direction of Willy's.

"Summon me? Who? I've been in Sunnydale for a few days now," Ayla said, trying to resist the temptation of looking at Spike. She could tell that he was a smug bastard from the day she had met him, well, the real him and looking at him could indicate that she… thought he was handsome. Spike raised a brow. "What are you doing in Sunnydale? I mean, you're a demon now, right? Got all sorts of demon-y business all over the bloody world, don't ya?" Spike sputtered as he stole a glance at the redhead. She hadn't changed one bit since the day he had met her, at least not on the exterior.

"Oh, but there's something big going to happen in Sunnydale. There's a regret brewing here and it belongs to a very powerful person… I'm not sure if I should go and talk to her or just let things go their natural course," she said with a grin. Spike's interest was caught. A very powerful person. Well, he and Buffy had recently kissed… But that wasn't powerful enough to summon a rue demon… Was it? "Since when do you let things take their natural course? You jumped a vampire when you were a Slayer, why would you decide to let things be natural this time around?" Spike hissed, realizing all too late that he shouldn't have said that.

"I jumped a vampire?" Ayla asked with heavy emphasis. "You're the one who attacked me with your lips. You're the freak who ruined the natural course of things," she said bitterly. Yeah, it wasn't her fault, like Hector had told her a gazillion times. Spike had been the one to come onto her, not the opposite way around.

"You're the one who closed the door for privacy, we all know what that means, luv," he snarled.

"You pulled my shirt off," she defended herself, as if that was an acceptable defense.

"You let me in, Slayer," Spike was shouting and from the tone of his voice, he was angry.

"You're the one who tried to start it up again the next day!" Ayla shouted back.

And with those words he was reminded how she didn't want to beg for more, even if she clearly wanted it. No, she was the one with the self-control. He had wanted more from her at that time, knowing that she was a Slayer and that he had already had a piece of her. He had wanted more and she had, she had rejected him. "If you hadn't been so stuck-up I could have shown you the time of your life," he said, lowering his voice. _Play it cool._ He thought to himself. He noticed her roll her eyes. "What? I was bloody brilliant and you know that," he said defensively.

"You were pretty groovy," she said, using that typical 60s slang that had always made him think of bloody Woodstock. "But if I had let you continue, your shackles-" she was referring to Drusilla "would have gone ape. I bet she could smell it, but had she caught us doing anything. You would have been busted," she said with a shrug. Spike felt like he had had a revelation. Of course, Dru wouldn't have busted him, nah, she would have been mad though, hurt. He was hers, had always said he was. She knew what he had done, she could smell it the minute she had seen him, but what she didn't see she didn't care about, not really.

"I would thank you for that, had you done that on purpose," he said with a shrug. He watched as she gulped down some whiskey. She was taking far larger sips than she had back at Woodstock. She was downing that whiskey like a vamp would. "Developed a taste for alcohol?" Spike asked, accepting the bottle and taking a swig. "Always had a taste for it. Began to love it after Woodstock."

"Why after Woodstock?" he asked, rather surprised. If anything, he would have thought she would hate it.

"It freed me more than anything."

A small gust blew and he watched as she wrapped herself up with… His shirt! "Oi, that's my shirt!" he exclaimed as they turned down a street. She looked down before shrugging. "You left it with me; I look at it as a parting gift. I didn't think you'd want it anyways, with the hole and the blood in it," she said, showing him the side he had stabbed her in. There was a small hole surrounding with blood and it looked very… Painful. "I couldn't just leave you there naked," he excused himself, pretending that he actually meant that. But she knew better, and she gave him a knowing look, without even looking at him.

That was odd, he thought, realizing that she hadn't looked at him since they first bumped into each other. Was she afraid to look at him? He smirked, feeling rather victorious. He still was the Big Bad, especially now that he remembered that she didn't know he was chipped. _Oh wait, she's a demon. _He thought in anger. Oh well.

"My stop." Her words were distantly, cold and simple. She wanted to get away from this man before… before something bad happened. "Hey, Ayla," he said, rejecting the idea of calling her Slayer since she really wasn't one. "I honestly feel bad I wasn't able to satisfy you more. I saw it on your face, when I left with Dru, that that fight had been… unsatisfactory," he said, hoping that those words would reel her in. And they did. Before he knew it, she was looking at him, penetrating his eyes with her gray eyes, making him feel as if it had all been a terrible misunderstanding.

It just happened, just like that.

It wasn't clear who had done it but their lips locked and they were desperately clinging onto each other, fiercly attacking each other's faces as they walked to the hotel room she had been staying in. "Just a second," she mumbled as she pulled out her card and ran it through as quickly as possible. "No waiting," he mumbled as he picked her up, ran in, slammed the door and dropped her on to the bed.

"Still so harsh," Ayla mumbled as she pulled his shirt off of him, revealing his body. She stopped a moment to admire the way his body seemed to be chiseled by one of the masters. He had the body that most girls would kill to spend the night with. The body that tried to kill her. She pushed him and got on top, playing the aggressively role which she had gotten so used to over the course of the years. "You don't look so bad from up here," she said as he tore his shirt off of her. Now it was his turn to stop, but this time, it was to reminiscence. Her breasts were still just the right shape and her freckles were spread all over her body-

"Like a map," he said, catching her attention.

"What?" she said, stopping to look at where he was looking.

"Nothing," he said, dismissing the thought. He rolled over, now being on top. He liked the fact that she tried to take control but he was the one in control. Always. He leaned down and suckled on her nipples until they were so stiff that it looked painful to him.

Suddenly, their session, hardly having begun, was interrupted with a loud bang. "Fuck, seriously?" Ayla said, pushing Spike off of her violently and grabbed the shirt she had been wearing and wrapped it around herself quickly. "Perfect time for a summoning, don't you think?" she asked, looking at Spike with a grin. He didn't seem to respond and without a warning she was gone. Spike sighed, not sure if he was annoyed or relieved. How had they wound up wrapped in each other's arms? He had spent the second half of the 20th century hating her existence and he had just finally began to let it all go when she bloody well pops up when he needs something to hold. _Because Buffy bloody well won't do it. _He thought bitter before gathering his shirt and duster.

He was going to head to the Magic Box, to see what kind of show the Scoobies were going to put on.

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><p>Ayla appeared in the middle of what looked like a magic shop, her shirt (formerly Spike's) wrapped around her awkwardly, making it obvious that she had been in the middle of something when they summoned her. She faced a group consisting of a small blonde, old man, a red-head, a dark haired man and… "Anyanka!" she cried out in happiness, relieved to see someone she knew. "Ayla! It's good to see you! Were we interrupting your passionate night?" she asked frankly, receiving a nudge of the elbow from Xander. Ayla looked at the shirt and blushed before turning away from the people so she could button up.<p>

After finishing buttoning up she turned back around again. "Yeah, sorry. You guys caught me at a bad time," she said with a sheepish smile on her face. _She looks so friendly_. Buffy couldn't help but think, comparing the girl to other demons they had dealt with. Giles had convinced her that this one didn't need killing- they needed her on their team and they needed to learn from her. Well, at least she didn't look like a demon of the "hey-scary-demon-let's-kill-it" variety.

"I didn't know that demons... you know, got it on," Xander commented with slight cough.

"That's very naïve Xander. Demons like sex, just as much as you do!" Anya said, feeling offended.

"Yeah. If anything, demons get it on more than humans," Ayla said with a raised brow.

The conversation of "getting it on" was interrupted by Giles _"clearing his throat."_ "We're not here to talk about the mating habits of demons, we're here to discuss to you, Ayla, about being a Slayer," Giles said with a serious expression on his face. Ayla tittered; intrigued by the fact that they knew that she had been a Slayer. She tilted her head to the side before taking a seat at the table everyone had been sitting at.

"First off, I wasn't "mating," it's sex. Besides, can't really mate with the one I was with," she mumbled. "Second of all, how do you know about me being a Slayer, back then? It's not like I've ever told anyone," she said with a betrayed expression on her face.

"Well, you see, Buffy here is the current Slayer," Giles said, motioning towards the short blonde. Ayla nodded in recognition which Buffy returned. "I'm her Watcher, Giles. Earlier tonight I and Anya heard from a, uhm, former acquaintance of yours about an encounter you two had and that he had met the demon that killed you. Figuring that you were a demon, we decided to summon you and see… what you were like," Giles explained, hoping that his explanation was vague enough.

"Are you yankin' my chain? I can't believe this, just absolutely typical," Ayla said, crossing her arms in a fit of fury. "You know, I was alive and that ditz vampire has to ruin everything and then I'm dead, finally free of him and he just keeps on bothering me," she said with exasperation. Oh and he had to get her into bed while he was at it, hadn't he? Oh, he knew how to hurt a girl's pride.

"Spike's always annoying," Buffy commented. She had a feeling that, despite being a demon, she would get along with Ayla. "Tell me about it. I've met him twice in my life and nothing ever goes right, really."

"Oh, you," she said, suddenly looking at Willow intently. "You're the reason why I came to Sunnydale," she said, her heart beating hard and fast. She always got worked up in a gig. For a split second her skin turned scaly and blue as she peered into the regret, the prelude and the consequence. "Hey! That's r-rude, and yeah, I summoned you. Someone had to do it," Willow replied, putting up a tough face. Rue demons were very intuitive and they almost always were able to sense what their subjects were feeling and right now, Willow seemed scared.

"Oh, no, not the summoning. I have been in Sunnydale for dayyyyyys," Ayla said before letting out a giggle. The alcohol was still bubbling in her body and she felt like the whole situation was rather silly, really.

"Days?" Buffy inquired.

"Oh yeah, been hanging out at the hotel and at Willy's. I wasn't sure whether I should dive in or let things unfold. Both will turn out rather interesting, really," she commented with a shrug. Willow was going to ask what was going to happen but Giles interrupted purposely, not wanting to make Willow worry more about the whole Tara situation.

"We can discuss that later. Now we want to discuss… Well, you being a Slayer and then a demon. It must have been a drastic change for you," Giles said with furrowed brows. It was funny to see how puzzled he was- it didn't happen often.

Before Ayla was able to speak another word, someone burst into the Magic Box. Everybody knew him on sight. "Did I miss the party?" he said, casually walking towards the group. "What are you doing here Spike?" Buffy asked with a tired tone, as if she had seen him far too often. Ayla stood up and stomped towards him, catching everyone by surprise

"I would punch you so hard that you would wake up in a different continent," she threatened, her gray eyes turning to a slight silver color. "But I don't want to ruin this nifty shop. But you… Telling them about me. It's private you ditz. I try not to advertise that I used to be a Slayer," she said before turning around and stomping back into her seat. Spike looked surprised by her outburst but then he smiled smugly. "I think you just want another piece of my, Darrow. Why else would you be wearing my shirt?" he challenged.

"You're wearing his shirt?" Xander asked with a surprised look.

"Eww," Buffy commented.

"It was the first thing I grabbed before I had to fight him off fighting for his shackles. I keep on wearing it because it makes a good sob story for when I'm dealing with regrets," she said, motioning towards the hole where he had stabbed her. "I am definitely not wearing it because I want to sleep with you," she hissed.

"Back to what you were saying, Giles?" Ayla said, turning to him. He looked at Spike who for once shut his mouth instead of constantly challenging someone before smiling towards Ayla.

"I was wondering… Did becoming a demon change anything? I mean, Slayer abilities."

"Not a thing. I gained the rue-demon strength, so I'm even stronger now than I was-"

"Not that you were really strong back then."

"Shut up, bleachball. And I gained new abilities, looking into minds, turning all icky when doing it, but I still fight as well and have the same old Slayer abilities," she said with a shrug.

"So you get all the benefits of Slayer, plus demon abilities? Man, that is cool," Xander commented.

"Yes- very," Giles muttered as he wrote down notes in a book.

"Did you actually die?" Willow piped up. Ayla looked at her with a raised brow. "I mean, did you, go somewhere? Did you feel pain or anything? Anything… die-like?" she clarified. "Not really. According to Hector I just blacked out for a moment, got an option to become a rue demon and then just woke up. Nothing more to it," she said simply.

"Why did he come to you?"

"Spike, I'm not here to answer your questions," Ayla said with a roll of her eyes.

"I sort of want to know too!" Xander said and Ayla sighed heavily.

"I'm sure all of you know what happened at Woodstock-"

"Not really, I mean. Me, Willow and Xander just came in for the summoning," Buffy explained. Ayla scowled. She was hoping that she wouldn't have to say anything about it.

"Well, long story short. I tried to save bleach ball here from getting bit by a vampire, not knowing that he was one. After he sobered up from the drugs, we drank, we talked, had sex and next day his shackles came by and there was a fight and he stabbed me," Ayla said speaking so quickly that everything seemed to run into one sentence.

"Sex?" Buffy exclaimed loudly.

"Shackles?" Giles questioned.

"Talk?" Xander asked with a doubtful look on his face.

"Yes, sex. Drusilla. As much as he can talk," Ayla answered all of their questions quickly. An awkward silence fell over the room as some inevitably envisioned a rather awkward web of tangled bodies. "It's getting late, I suppose we should retire for today," Giles said, breaking the silence. Everybody except for Ayla and Spike nodded in agreement. "Oh, thanks for calling me in. Nice meeting you lot and all," Ayla said, getting ready to head out of the shop.

"Wait a minute Ayla," Giles said, making her stop dead in her tracks.

"Yes?" she asked, obviously wanting to go back to… doing something else.

"Well… We think you could be a valuable asset to us."

"Oh." Ayla wasn't sure of how to feel.

"And I mean, Slayer to Slayer, I think it would be fun. Not that hanging out with the last Slayer was fun but I mean… I think you could help out. Maybe do some patrolling, you know, like you did back in the day!" Buffy said with enthusiasm. Ayla smiled, feeling genuinely happy that somebody wanted to keep her around. There weren't many people she had met in the past years that would be around long enough for her to hang out with.

"Sure… It's not like I have anything better to do unless I'm, you know, killing people," Ayla said with a shrug. "How uhm… Will you guys contact me? I mean, you can't keep summoning me, one time and I'm clanked."

Everybody looked at each other in silence. "You could stay with us. I'm sure Dawn won't mind… Willow?" Buffy asked and Willow nodded in silence. Ayla looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed at being offered to stay at a strangers house. "That sounds good. I mean, I will have to pick up my stuff from the hotel tomorrow. But I would love to, I mean. Not that I need company or anything but it could be… interesting," she said with a smile.

"That's settled. See you tomorrow Giles!" Buffy said, standing up along with Willow and heading out the door. Ayla followed but right before she stepped out she turned to glance at Spike one more time, envisioning his near-perfect upper body. "You're shirt's on inside out," she said as she stepped out of the, leaving Spike looking down at his shirt rather flustered and receiving odd glances from the remaining members of the Scoobies. "Sod this," he mumbled, getting out of the Magic Box as quick as he could.


	2. Mistakes

**A/n**: I hope you like this. And I hope it isn't too difficult to read. Oh, and there will be a bit of... well, sexual activity, although not sure how sexual it is but consider yourselves warned. I suppose.

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><p>"<em>Did you think they noticed?" he whispered, his large hands resting on her breasts, squeeze ever so lightly.<em>

"_No, I don't think they suspected a thing, darling." She turned her head and gave him a peck on the lips._

"_Good, wouldn't want them to know about this, would we, love?" he said, motioning towards their bodies, naked and entwined. She tittered. "No, sweetheart."_

"BUFFY!" a shrill voice shouted, waking up Ayla, who immediately shot up and assumed fighting position. But when she looked around, all she could see was a dark haired teenage girl who was standing by the stairs and staring at her. "Buffy hurry! It's awake!" the girl shouted and before long both Willow and Buffy were heading down the stairs, Buffy armed. But then as soon as they laid their eyes on Ayla they both calmed down significantly, although Willow was obviously freaked. Ayla looked down at her hands before realizing that she was both blue and scaly. Feeling slightly humiliated by the girl's reaction Ayla focus quickly and within her seconds her skin was back to its normal, creamy color with freckles.

"Calm down Dawn, we have a houseguest," Buffy said, smiling at Ayla apologetically. Willow headed back up the stairs in a sluggish manner. "A demon as a houseguest? You let a demon I've never met sleep in the same house as me?" Dawn asked, offended.

"She's a Slayer… or was… Or sort of still is. It's complicated, but she's going to help us fight demons and vampires and stuff," Buffy said with a smile. Dawn looked at her with a look of disbelief. "Last Slayer you befriended tried to kill you Buffy," Dawn said before storming back up the stairs and slamming the door as she went back into her bedroom.

"Sorry, you know, teenagers," Buffy said with a shrug.

"I remember being one and seeing a demon for the first time. _Not groovy,_" Ayla said, following Buffy into the kitchen. She watched in silence as Buffy prepared some toast. "So did you sleep well? I'm sorry that the couch isn't really that comfortable but it's all we have at the moment," she explained with a jaded smile.

"Oh, it was plenty comfortable. I've had to sleep in way worse conditions, trust me," Ayla said with a chuckle. "This one time in Iceland I slept in a barn… in the middle of winter. It was dreadful. The she-" she paused before offering Buffy a sheepish smile. "But I wound up not sleeping too well because of… bad dreams," she admitted, nodding in thanks as Buffy gave her two slices of toast.

"I've wanted to ask since yesterday…" Buffy said suddenly, leaning on the counter. "You said… you had had sex with Spike. I mean. How did that happen? He's not exactly handsome or anything," Buffy said with a scowl. Ayla couldn't help but smirk at the curiosity and doubt Buffy's words when she said that Spike wasn't handsome.

"I don't know. We were talking about loneliness. He accused me of being lonely and then he said something like: _you're not alone, love_," Ayla said in a mocking sultry tone, making a face as she did it to accentuate how confident Spike had been. Buffy let out a laugh at the way Ayla said Spike's line and it wasn't hard to imagine him saying something on the lines of that. "And then I said I was because it was obvious that he was hung up on Drusilla, and even though he was with me, he was lonely. And then he just sort of attacked me."

"Attacked you? How does that lead to sex?"

"Nonono, attacked me with his lips. Not like, stabbing fighting attack," she said, making stabbing motions with her hands.

"And it just happened?" Buffy asked with her brow raised.

"Pretty much. I mean, despite what you think, he is a handsome man and I really was lonely and sexual relations was all I thought I could have as a Slayer. But now I come here and meet you and you have this huge gang of friends… and a sister and your Watcher is so nice to you. I'm pretty jealous," Ayla said, nibbling at her toast. Buffy stared at her for a moment before forcing a smile. "Well, now you have us too. I mean, I know it's not much but, we're tolerable," Buffy joked.

"Uhm, so. I think I should go to the hotel and you know, get my stuff," Ayla said, looking towards a door to the kitchen which Dawn came through. The pair exchange an awkward smile before Ayla stood up. "Oh, do you have a lot of things? We could help… If you want to," Buffy offered.

"I appreciate the offer, but I have a van. Oh, you won't mind if I bring the van, will you? I mean, I could even sleep in it… It's pretty comfortable," Ayla said, exaggerating slightly The van had seriously deteriorated since 1969, but it was good enough to carry her things around. "Oh, no, a van's… cool. but you can still sleep in the house," Buffy said, hesitant about whether the van was actually cool.

"A van? Like hippies were supposed to have?" Dawn asked with obvious interest.

"Yeah, in fact, it has been my main method of transportation since the 60s, excluding teleportation," Ayla said, waving off to the two girls. "I'll show it to you when I get back," she said, making her way out of the house. Finally, she was free. She enjoyed the company of others but being around Buffy and her friends and family was just sort of weird, since she didn't know how to behave exactly.

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><p>Ayla was surprisingly relieved when she got to the hotel. Being around Buffy made her feel like she was an inferior Slayer. Of course, every Slayer fights knowing that there will probably be someone better, someone who could learn from their mistakes and someone that faces stronger beings. And there would always be those legendary Slayers that somebody would be pushed to exceed in talent. Ayla had never been subjected to the latter but she felt as if Buffy was way ahead regarding skill. She looked at least a couple of years older than Ayla had been when she died and two years meant mad skills.<p>

"Well, she ain't got you," Ayla said, allowing her hand to trace the side of the van as she passed it on her way to the hotel. The paint was peeling and Ayla made a mental note to write a note that she needed to repaint it. Perhaps changing the color would be nice. Blood red was getting a bit old. She approached the door to her hotel room and realized that the door was slightly open. "Stupid vampire. Can't even close a fucking door," Ayla said, knowing that it must have been Spike, since he had been left in the room the night before.

"Bloody hell woman, watch it!" was the first thing that Ayla heard when she entered the hotel room. She slammed the door in frustration and stared at the vampire who sat on her bed. "You know, this is just creepy," Ayla said, walking around the room and picking up random objects that belonged to her, including her stake and dagger. She could hear Spike snorting as if she had offended him greatly. Ayla turned and looked at him. "Are you saying this isn't creepy? You're in my hotel room, even though you left it last night. I can't think of a reason for you being here that's not creepy."

"I sleep in a bleedin' crypt most of the time. A free bed to sleep in is something I don't turn down," Spike said, choosing not to reveal the fact that he had a nice bed in the lower level of the crypt where he could sleep all he wanted. Ayla shrugged, taking it as a legit excuse and Spike felt relieved. He didn't know why he had gone to the hotel room. After last night he had simply begun walking and before he knew it, his feet had brought him to this place.

"Enjoy it, you can keep it," Ayla said, throwing the room card to him before she fastened her weapons on their usual places- the stack in her back pocket and the dagger in the sheath that hung at her left side. Spike took the card and fiddled with it while watching her gather things. Clothes, underwear.

"I see you've been keeping yourself busy," Spike commented with a coy smile, nodding the in direction of laced panties that were lying on a chair in the corner. With a scowl on her face Ayla snatched the panties. "You're such a pig," she mumbled, stuffing the panties into a bag that had kept most of her things in it. She made sure that her back faced Spike, so that he couldn't see how red her cheeks were. It was bad enough that she had gone with him to the hotel room last night but the fact that he was right, that she did keep herself "busy" angered her. After all, she had been told countless times that it was all because of him. Not that she believed she had a problem. She was just cutting loose but one of those "alternative" psychologists in the 80s had suggested that she was trying to achieve some sort of… Perfect night.

Something that didn't end in her getting stabbed in the lung.

"Enjoy the room," Ayla said, heading to the exit. She needed to get out. "Aren't you forgetting something, Darrow?" Spike said, carefully using her last name instead of Slayer. Turning around sharply Ayla looked at Spike who held a small notebook. Ayla marched towards him and swung her fist so hard that he flew into the wall. "Bloody hell Slayer," he let slip and Ayla could feel her cheeks redden. "Oh, you don't like that. Slayer," Spike said, accentuating her former title. She stomped towards him and tore the notebook from his hands before taking out the stake, causing Spike to look at her in disbelief.

"Watch yourself, _William_," Ayla said before turning around and getting the hell out of there. Spike smirked, feeling rather content with how things turned out. Especially since he had noticed something he didn't expect to see. Those cream colored, freckle filled cheeks were bright red when she faced him. "Still in her head," he said with a cackle.

* * *

><p><em>Few days later.<em>

They weren't in sync but they were a damn good team. It had only taken them a few hours before they knew how the other fought. Ayla took her time and played around, not in too much of a hurry while Buffy seemed to just get down to the point as soon as she could. But their fighting styles were surprisingly similar. Same moves, same defense. The only difference was the time they took.

"There." Buffy looked at Ayla, who was pinning down a fledgling, whispering something to him. "Ayla?" Buffy asked, hoping that her patrol partner would hurry up and finish the deal. Ayla turned her head and gave Buffy a quirky little smile before staking the vampire and standing up. "Sorry, I was starting to get into it."

The two women walked next to each other, taking one more round of the cemetery. Ayla had gotten pretty comfortable around Buffy, although pretty much everyone else still made her nervous. But Buffy was nice, just the kind of girl Ayla would have hung out with if she had sought someone to hang out with. There was a moment of silence before Buffy piped up.

"Why didn't you want to… die? Permanently?" she asked, curious. She had sacrificed herself and had finally been able to rest in peace and she honestly couldn't understand why Ayla hadn't done that. The redhead shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I wasn't ready. I was really depressed and all but I wasn't going to let a ditz of a vampire kill me without even being there," she said with a weak smile.

"He really got to you, didn't he?" Buffy asked, wondering how Spike could affect someone as… strong, like a Slayer was supposed to be.

"Really? More like colossally. He was the only person who saw into me."

"Into… you?"

"Yeah, he understood me. He… knew how I felt even though I denied it. And for one night, he cured it."

"That's weird. I mean, I can't really see Spike helping someone."

Ayla laughed before agreeing with a nod. "I think he was just trying to get into my pants, but it worked."

The two women fell silent once more as they walked past graves. Ayla couldn't help but look at the birth years. It was weird seeing graves of people who weren't even born when she had been alive. In fact, it seemed that a big part of the graveyard consisted of people that weren't much older than she was. "I was just so angry for being such a failure as a Slayer. I slept with a vampire-"

"Oh, you're not the only one," Buffy commented, rolling her eyes. If it would help Ayla, she was willing to share what she considered to be a painful past. "Really?" Ayla asked, her eyes shining with curiosity. "Yeah. Dated for a while and everything. He was amazing, kind, sweet and just about everything I wanted," Buffy said with a contrite smile. "And then… I gave myself to him. God, I was so nervous. But then he loses his soul and goes all super evil," Buffy said with tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them and smiled at Ayla. "Even tried to end the world."

"Well. Not that the whole losing the soul thing isn't bad but… At least you knew. You weren't being a failure of a Slayer and not noticing that you were sleeping with your natural enemy. Although, I am sorry to hear about that. That must have really hurt," Ayla said with a sympathetic look on her face. Sleeping with someone and making them evil must have really set her back.

"But it's good now. He came back from hell and is good now. He works in L.A. and is doing good work there, helping people," Buffy said, her voice betraying her and letting Ayla know that she wasn't completely happy with the way things were.

"Look at what we have here. Slayer bonding time!" a voice with a British accent sounded from behind them. "Telling her about Captain Forehead? Oh, you'll love this story, Slayer," Spike said, looking at Ayla to see her reaction. She already had both her dagger and stake out. "Spike, what do you want?" Buffy asked, crossing her arms. "Oh, just a little love and attention. I won't lose my soul, promise," Spike said with a smirk. Oh, he was feeling more dangerous than he had felt in a long time. Somehow seeing Ayla had reminded him that he wasn't bound to anyone- and definitely not the bloody Slayer.

"You know, it wasn't until I learned about the Sex Pistols that I realized that you were just a pathetic piece of waste," Ayla hissed suddenly. "Sex Pistols?" Buffy repeated, sounding confused with the reference. "The Sex Pistols? What in bloody hell are you talking about?" Spike asked, rather confused by what she had said. "You're like Sid Vicious. You know, bad boy, doing whatever he pleases. A flake. Pathetic. Sure, you're a badass and you impress people with it but you're broken," Ayla said, her voice raised.

"Pent up anger, I like it, _Slayer,_" he said, making sure that he said that last part with a cocky grin.

"I bet that's what you would like. You must have it stored up since that madwoman got to her senses and left you," Ayla said, returning the cocky grin.

"Don't you dare talk about Dru like you know her!" Spike's eyes flared with anger.

"Oh please. Who could know her? Everyone I've met who have met her say that she is out of her tree. Bonkers."

"If I didn't have this chip in my head, you and I would be at it right now," Spike threatened emptily.

Ayla looked at him with a raised brow and then at Buffy. "Chip?" Buffy nodded, smiling because that meant that this fight was over, at least she hoped. "He can't hurt humans, so he's pretty much crippled," Buffy said with a satisfied look on her face. "Shut up Slayer," Spike said with a resigned look. "Wait, just humans or any living thing?" Ayla inquired, realizing that she didn't classify as a human. "Oh no, pet, I can hurt anything non-human. That's why I hang around this lot, help them take care of-"

There was a painful silence as Spike and Buffy realized that Ayla wasn't human. She was a demon.

And within moments Spike had tackled her to the ground and was hitting her. "This is just wonderful, Slayer," he said, unusually chirpy. Buffy was about to join but stopped when she received a look from Ayla. "I can handle myself, just… Finish this round. She's probably waiting for you," Ayla said, referring to Dawn. She had noticed the strong bond between the sisters, even though they didn't want to admit it most of the time. Buffy reluctantly nodded before turning to leave, reminding herself that Ayla had the Slayer strength plus demon strength. "She can do it," she mumbled.

"Want some alone time, Slayer? You just had to say so," Spike said, leaning over Ayla so that their faces were inches apart. "You wish," Ayla said, pushing Spike off violently, causing him to fly onto a headstone and breaking it. She ran to him even before he had a chance to stand up and she yanked him up by the shirt and pinned him up against the nearest tree which as just a few big leaps.

"And you know what, I'm not the bloody Slayer," she said, punching him in the face with all her might. "I'm fucking Ayla Darrow," she hit him in the stomach area. "And stop calling me those stupid names." Before she was able to hit him once more he kicked her, causing her to go back a few steps before falling down.

"But that's what you were. Slayer," he said, pinning her down and sitting on top of her. "You want to be that still, don't you? Fight evil? But now you're that evil, pet, you're one of us," he whispered before hitting her on the side of the face. Ayla scowled and used her foot to push Spike off of her and she pinned him down in the same fashion as he had pinned her for. "At least I was something," Ayla said, landing on her feet as Spike threw her off of himself. "From what I've heard, you were the worst poet wannabe in the 19th century," Ayla sneered as Spike pinned her up against a crypt of some sort. She looked around and realized that they had traveled quite a distance. It hadn't felt like they traveled at all.

"At least I was a person with feelings. I didn't deny them while I was human," Spike said, finally delivering the final blow to Ayla's ego. Yeah, she had shut her feelings off as soon as she knew about being a Slayer and what it meant. But that was what she was supposed to be. If she hadn't then she would have ended up in some weird situations like Buffy had been in. There was only one where she let her feelings show and that was with Spike.

So it escaped. A single tear. It ran down her cheek quickly, as if it were trying to flee.

And then she grabbed him and pulled him closer and attacked him. If she was going to be weak, it was going to be physical. He wasn't going to know that he could hurt her with words, at least not too much.

Oh, it was sweet to indulge a kiss. For Ayla they were rare. She avoided kissing when it came to her, late night visitors because it felt to person but Spike… He had nearly killed her and caused her transition into demonhood. It was always going to be personal. She followed him as he dragged her around into the entrance of the crypt and she was surprised to see that it was actually… furnished. "Like what you've done with the place," she said, looking around, her fingers twiddling in an antsy manner.

"Wait until you see the lower level," he said, quickly moving the stone so that the lower level could be accessed. Ayla looked at him suspiciously before making her way down but she was surprised when she saw a rather… cozy abode and a large bed that was just… inviting her to lay in.

But she didn't have a chance to accept the invitation. Before she knew it, Spike had grabbed her from behind, turned her around and thrown her onto the bed. He was, after all, a man of action now. "Come on, you know why we're here," she mumbled, pulling him down and engorged herself in their kiss. Nobody made her feel this hot in such a short amount of time and certainly not after beating each other senseless.

While reaching to take off his shirt, Ayla realized that he had taken off his duster without her noticing. _Sneaky bastard_. She thought as the removal of his shirt revealed one of her favorite sights. She took a moment to plant kisses all over his chest and allowing her tongue to trace around his nipples, causing him to shudder. "You can't be having all the fun," he said sternly, tearing open the shirt that she had been wearing, his shirt and unhooking the bra.

"I love these, perfectly round and per-"

"Shut your face, we're not here to bond," Ayla reminded him. Spike looked at her before raising a brow and obliging. He stared at the top half of the girl he despised. She had often appeared like this in his dreams, topless, looking up at him. But in those dreams she was a Slayer but she looked at him like a woman would look at a man. Not like he was a demon. He slid his hand over her chest, down towards her naval, as they exchanged kisses but stopped when he felt a slightly bumpy surface.

He kissed her jaw, slowly making his way down to the neck. He wanted to see but he didn't want her to know that he was looking at something. He stopped at her breasts and suckled on one of them, teasing the other with his fingers. He suppressed a grin when he heard her moan. He kissed under her breasts and traveled down to her bellybutton where he saw it. A painfully white scar that was round like… a scar you would get from a stake. "Is this my work?" he couldn't help but asking, his fingers caressing the scar. Ayla looked up and saw him stroking the scar. She nodded and he couldn't help but notice melancholy in her eyes.

_You duffer._ He scolded himself as he heaved himself back up and allowed his hands to undo her pants. They were there for one thing, he reminded himself. His hands slid in and he could feel the warm, smooth surface and as he traveled deeper he could feel it getting wetter… Warmer.

"Wasting time," she managed to say in between moans, undoing his pants and pushing them down with her feet. She grabbed a hold of his member and was for a moment taken aback when it wasn't warm, but then she remembered that vampires were room temperature. She moved her hand slowly, up and down, in a circling motion, causing Spike to let out a groan. Their eyes locked for a moment and she could have looked into those beautifully blue eyes for ages but she tore herself away from them, reminding herself how much of a ditz he was.

"You ready?" His voice was low, as if he were trying to whisper. Ayla couldn't help but let a half smile slip onto her lips. "If you're up to it," she teased. For a moment, they both shared a smile but it was interrupted by his insertion. Spike couldn't help but shiver with pleasure. She was so warm to the touch but on the inside, she was even warmer. Making love to Dru might have had the emotional pleasure, but having sex with a warm being was a different experience.

"I had forgotten how you filled me up," Ayla said, locking eyes with Spike as he, slowly, thrust so that he reached all the way into her. He could feel her quiver, her muscles contracting around him, causing a sudden wave of pleasure to overtake the two of them. They no longer thought of anything, it was if their bodies took control. They were wrapped in each other's embraces as he slid in and out, filling her like she hadn't been filled in a while. "Spike," she mumbled insistently as she ran her hands through his hair, pulling when she would reach the ends.

It was good to feel wanted again. After constantly being rejected by Buffy who hardly did anything other than insult him, over and over again, feeling want was a fresh breath of air. Even if it was only obtained in the embrace of the girl who had plagued him for years. The way she called his name made him want to make it last because once they were done she would go back to beating the life out of him. "Ayla," he let her name slip past his lips as he held her tighter.

Her lips strayed away from his, moving from his jaw to his neck where she nipped at him, causing him to writhe with pleasure. She had changed since they were together last time, physically. She seemed to know a little more about pleasing someone, rather than being pleased. "_William,"_ she mumbled in between the nips. Unable to contain himself, Spike wriggled his hips until he heard a gasp. Grinning, he kept on going, hitting the same spot until he could feel her nails digging deep into him. Ayla didn't breathe while she was filled with the result of his pleasure, and hers.

And then they were separated, panting with bliss. Ayla looked at Spike, wondering why he was panting. He didn't need to breathe. She shook the thought off and closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. She could smell cigarettes, booze and… him. She had always been a sucker for people that smelled good. Yeah, that's why she had been tempted. He had some sort of secret temptation smell. Frustrated with the realization of what she had just done, Ayla stood up and began collecting her clothes.

"Leaving already?" she heard Spike susurrus. She decided to ignore him. God, how could she be so stupid? This was dumber than the first time she had slept with him because this time she knew who he was and what he was capable of. She forced herself into her jeans with such power that she managed to rip a hole in the left leg. "Damn it," she muttered, frustrated.

"Hey, calm down," a cool hand touched her shoulder. Ayla turned around to face Spike. "I'm not a fan of this happening either, but there's no reason to get your knickers in a twist, pet," he said, helping her into his shirt, the one she used for sob stories. There was an awkward silence as Ayla got dressed in a less rushed manner, taking her time to put on her jeans properly. By the time she had everything else ready, Spike had buttoned up the shirt she was wearing. Flustered by his help her cheeks turned red.

"This won't happen again," she mumbled, leaving the same way she came in- through a hole. She didn't hear a reply and she assumed that he had gone off to do something else, something more important than wonder whether she would make her way back okay. "Ditz."

* * *

><p>Trying to be quiet, Ayla slowly opened the door to the kitchen and crept in as quietly as possible. She had made it back rather fine, only stopping once to dust a vampire that was on the loose. She couldn't help but berate herself for what had gone down. There was no excuse; she was the one that attacked him, pulling down. She had been the one to tell him that this was what they had gone to his crypt for. She was stupid and immature and-<p>

"I was starting to get worried." Ayla snapped out of her thoughts and saw Buffy in the kitchen with a glass of orange juice. Ayla offered a weak smile. "Spike's not too difficult to handle… I just enjoy the fight," Ayla said, hoping that her excuse would stand.

"You do seem to enjoy it… A lot. I just thought that three hours was a bit long for you to be simply fighting Spike," Buffy said, nodding towards a clock. Ayla looked at it. Of course, she had no sense of time but if Buffy was right then… She had spent a lot longer with Spike than she had anticipated. "But you wanted to fight your own fight and I appreciate that. I wouldn't want anyone to butt in on my personal fight. I mean, it feels like everyone is always trying to help me with my fights, regardless whether I want it or not."

Ayla smiled, surprised by Buffy's understanding. "Thanks, I appreciate you being so considerate," Ayla said, legitimately thankful.

"So you gave him a good beating?" Buffy asked as the two of them walked into the living room which had been turned into Ayla's permanent residence. The redhead looked at Buffy wide-eyed and it took her a moment to realize that Buffy was talking about violence. She laughed. "Yeah, he should have a shiner or too. But he gave me a run for my money," she said, pointing to the cheek where he had hit her. She was sore and she figured that it was visible.

"Well, you'll get him better next time," Buffy said with a smile, turning to leave for the stairs.

"Goodnight Buffy!" Ayla suddenly said, feeling a need to say some sort of parting words for the night. It was something she hadn't done since she had lived with her parents in '69. Buffy turned around and gave Ayla one of her smiles. "Goodnight Ayla."

"Oh god. This is a mess," Ayla mumbled, taking off her pants and changing shirts. She could feel at the pit of her stomach that she had to talk to Willow soon about her regret, whether she would relieve her or not and that was something she wasn't ready to face while getting adjusted to bunking with Buffy and her friends, Spike and being a part of a team but she knew that she had to. She took a deep breath before wrapping herself in a blanket and closing her eyes. At least there was some place she could get away, even if it was for a bit.


	3. True

**A/n:** Sorry that this is fairly short. T_T Just had a hard time getting into this chapter. Rewrote it quite a few times! Also, a big shout out to LadyKebechet, thanks for always commenting. 3

* * *

><p>The atmosphere in the Magic Box was tense and secretly, Ayla hated it. Sure, the atmosphere was mostly due to Willow being reckless with Dawn and… magic which meant that Ayla was probably close to relieving Willow but she didn't want that. Not anymore. It was easy to get attached to the group, especially when you have a few weeks with them. Everybody had a character and it was hard to find something to actually dislike and Willow… She was sweet as sweet could be. Ayla bit her lip in frustration, blocking out the arguments that were breaking out between just about everyone, mostly aimed at Willow or about her.<p>

But then a knock caught everyone's attention. "Shop's closed," Anya hollered, running towards the door to see who it was. The arguments resumed as if nothing had happened until a Spanish man, short but ruggedly handsome, stepped in. "Anya! Who is this guy?" Xander inquired with a look of jealousy on his face. Anya didn't answer but instead looked at Ayla, whose mouth was slightly opened in surprise. "Hector," she muttered, quickly scrambling to her feet.

"Ayla, Spike," Hector nodded in acknowledgment to the people he recognized in the room. He had only met Spike at the bar, knowingly starting this whole fiasco. He looked Ayla dead in the eye and scowled. "Come with me, we need to talk," he said, his eyes never leaving hers. "Hey, you don't get to tell her what to do," Buffy said, suddenly defending Ayla. Ayla smiled at her as if she were grateful. She had grown to appreciate Buffy's protectiveness for the people she cared about and this made her feel like she was a part of something. A bigger picture than simply helping people pass on.

"He's sort of my boss… And you know, the rue equivalent of a Sire. Respect and obedience is required," she said before winking. She followed Hector out without another word, simply waving her hand in goodbye. Willow frowned.

"This is my entire fault for using magic… She hasn't tried to talk to me yet so he's probably… he's probably angry with her," she said, sniffling. "Oh hush Red, if he needed her to talk to you, he would have just told her right there. Rue demons are straight down to business, unless they've got some inside information," Spike said, surprising everyone present in the Magic Box. He wouldn't admit it to any of them but since he last spent the night with Ayla, a couple of weeks ago, he had engrossed himself in reading about the kind of demon she was now. Better to know the person you bed, really.

"Inside information?" Buffy asked, confused. Spike shrugged. "Sometimes there's a big picture and rue demons aren't always allow to interfere, even if it is their case. Vengeance demons usually just do their thing, you know. But rue demons have to be all heroic and let things happen," Anya said, rolling her eyes slightly. She never really agreed with doing whatever the Powers to Be wanted to have done but some demons lived by their rules. "Wait, so they know the future?" Xander asked, actually following the explanation.

"Sometimes."

* * *

><p>"What's the sitch, Hector?" Ayla asked, obviously irked by his appearance. It was never good when another rue demon appears while you're <em>on a hunt.<em> She knew that there was going to be some sort of changes in the plan. She closed her eyes and for a moment she hoped that it involved **not** relieving Willow if she accepts her offer, or perhaps she didn't even have to speak to Willow about her regrets. Maybe Willow was free- a clean slate.

"You don't get to talk to her yet. Not about the regret, anyways," Hector said, clear to the point.

"Wait… Yet? Why not now, Hector? I mean, she's ripe now, she would be a good harvest."

"They can feel it, you know, that you wouldn't allow her to pass on, that you would simply clean her guilt."

"That's not too bad, we do that sometimes we-"

"It's not time. They changed their minds. What's to come will make it a bigger harvest and there will be more… That man-"

"Xander?"

"He will have regrets too. He will leave her at the altar and it will be his burden. But they won't be able to undo it," Hector said, not even turning his head to look at Ayla anymore as they walked down a street, away from the Magic Box. "And Willow and Tara will reunite, for a brief moment," he said, tilting his head as if it was interesting. "She will die and Willow will lose it. She'll try to bring upon an apocalypse but… She will fail and that's when she will be reaped, that's when the time is right."

Ayla stared at her mentor, her friend, in disbelief. Did he really expect her to allow things to go that way? "Wait, why will Tara die?" she asked, suddenly afraid of the future. It had never scared her because her future, since becoming a demon, had always been clear. "One of those three mutts will try to shoot Buffy," Hector said with obvious contempt towards the Trio. "And one shot will go in the wrong direction, through a window and into Tara. Tragic, really."

"Tragic? How about devastating? Willow loves her so much… And Dawn! Tara's like a surrogate mother to her! This can't just… happen!" Ayla protested before storming off. "If you think I'm going to do things your way, you're wrong. I am not going to let anyone die! You hear me Hector? NOBODY is going to die here, not on my watch." Before she knew it, she was running off in the direction of Revello Drive, her new home.

Hector stood there; grinning from ear to ear before suddenly disappearing, leaving a certain bleached blond vampire confused at what he just witnessed. He seemed to have missed most of the party, only dropping in by the time Ayla had begun shouting. It was obvious that the demons had a plan for Tara to die and Spike sort of wished he hadn't been able to distinguish her words. Tara was nice enough, at least she didn't treat him as badly as Buffy and Xander did most of the time. He began to lope towards the Slayer's house, having a feeling that's where he would find Ayla.

Knowing the Slayer, she would keep the rest of the Scoobies preoccupied for another hour at least, finding something to argue about. It was the little Bit that had gotten in danger anyways, she had all right to being angry and hurt. He wasn't too pleased with Red himself, feeling rather disappointing with her recklessness. Some people just didn't take magic seriously enough. But right now there were more pressing matters to tend to. The former Slayer looked as mad as she could be, storming off and shouting. He hadn't seen her lose her cool since, well, ever. Even when they fought she didn't yell.

When he finally arrived at Revello drive he was greeted by the sight of a furious redhead pulling things out of her van and smashing them into the sidewalk, some items breaking. It was like watching a child having a tantrum. Without saying anything he rushed over to her and grabbed her hands in hopes of stopping her from ruining just about every item in her van. "Let go of me!" she said, her voice shaky as if she had been crying. "Calm down pet," he said, using all his strength to keep her from breaking free and wrecking more of her things.

After a while of struggling and shouting obscenities at Spike, she finally stopped trying to break away and ceased shouting at him. The lack of shouting revealed that she was sobbing, hysterically. "Come on, pet," Spike said, gently nudging her towards the van, making sure to steer clear of calling her Slayer, at least for tonight. He picked up the things that she had thrown out that were still in one piece before entering the van and closing the doors.

"They want to let her die," Ayla said, through the sobs. Spike looked at her sympathetically but didn't move in. He had a feeling that she wouldn't hesitate to throw him out of the van if he made a single wrong move. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't think of the right words. He was slightly upset that they would have wanted to take away Tara but there wasn't much use arguing with them if they were connected to the Powers that Be. They had no control over the situation. He wanted to tell her that they had to, for one reason or another, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. "People die, pet, you did," he said, hoping that his words would comfort her, although he had a feeling that they wouldn't help much.

"Technically, but I'm still here," she retorted, looking at the man who had kept her from ruining every item in her van. "She won't… And bad things will happen Spike, bad, bad things," she said, wiping her face harshly with her sleeve, causing her cheek to redden. "But I won't let it happen," she said, her silver eyes locking with his.

"You can't defy the Power that Be, they always find a way to get what they want, you should know that," Spike said with a sympathetic look on his face. Ayla shook her head while looking down at the floor of the van, suddenly avoiding looking at Spike directly. "I get what I want. I can defy whoever I want," she said stubbornly and she kept on talking but her words became incomprehensible.

"Come on in luv, you can't stay out here, in the cold," Spike said, offering Ayla his hand as he used the other one to open the van. She was still crying but the sobbing had stopped. It took her a few moments but she put her hand in his and allowed him to pull her out of the van. "Come, let's go in," Spike said, placing an arm on her shoulder and he attempted to usher her in but she resisted, not very enthusiastically, but enough to make him stop and look at her with a questioning look. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking concerned.

Ayla shook her head before smiling a bit and wiping at her face with her sleeve. "Nothing, just, thought I saw something," she lied, heading into the house with Spike on her heel. She wouldn't admit it but she hadn't been able to cry since she became a demon and not once had her eyes watered in front of someone. It had been ages since she had lost her temper and for the first time in nearly thirty years she actually felt remotely human.

"You should sleep a bit, pet. You won't be much use to anyone when you're worn-out, now will you?" Spike said with a smirk. "I'm not of any use to anyone, I'm only here to take Willow," she mumbled back, taking deep breaths in between to recover from her rather embarrassing sobbing earlier. "Relieve her, isn't that what you said?" Spike said, sitting down besides Ayla on the couch.

"It's different now. I didn't know those people, I wasn't fond of them. But I know Willow and everything she does for Buffy and Dawn… And everybody. She's a good person who happened to do the wrong things a few times."

"A few? She could have gotten Dawn killed there! I'm not saying you should kill Red but it's not like she's bloody little miss goody-two-shoes anymore!" Spike retorted, his voice filled with annoyance. He liked Red more than some of the Scoobies but he didn't accept her behavior.

"She really regrets it. Every day, it's growing," Ayla said, suddenly allowing herself to lean on Spike's shoulder. "I can feel it. It's sort of like blood is to you, I suppose. You smell it… You can feel it and you crave it, it's something you have to keep yourself away from-"

"How do you know that?" Spike interrupted, not being able to recall ever telling her that, or any of the Scoobies for that fact.

"I've been with enough vampires in my time; they like to talk once they're drunk enough. But to the point, that's what regret is for me. I have urges to go and reap it, you know?" She moved a little so that she was in a more comfortable position. "What are you doing?" Spike asked, bewildered by the softness of her actions. Last time they got close it had been quick and well, harsh.

"I just need someone to, lean on, that's all," she whispered, trying to sound offended. "I still hate you. You're just, more comfortable than the couch."

Spike let a chuckle escape his lips before his hand travelled without orders to Ayla's red hair and he began absentmindedly stroking it. "I hate you too, _Slayer,_" he said, letting the word slip his mouth. He flinched, expecting her to hit him any time but after a few moments he relaxed. "I see your temper's not so bad," he said, turning his head so he could get a look at her face. Her skin was a steel blue color and sort of scaly looking. But unlike Hector, she didn't look gross.

She looked rather peaceful, if you look past the way her scales would lift slightly when she breathed out and the scowl that seemed to be stuck on her face as she slept. Spike looked away and gritted his teeth in frustration. Was this really what he had intended to do with her? Of course, he had assumed her long dead when he met Nikki Wood, only eight years later.

Dru said she had felt it, that he was disappointed that the redhead was gone, or the "flames" as she called her. Or at least, he figured she was talking about Ayla. Even though he understood her best, he didn't know what Dru was talking about half the time. How the bloody hell did he tolerate her? He smirked, knowing the answer well. She was a goddess in his mind, perfect in most aspects. She stayed with him for more than a century and didn't leave him until she met that bloody Chaos demon.

Spike turned his head, having heard a disturbance. He was greeted with the sight of Dawn at the bottom of the stairs. "Spike? What are you doing here?" she asked groggily, probably having recently awoken from her slumber. If Spike had been human, his cheeks would have reddened from the embarrassment of being seeing in such a… nice position. He didn't look evil at all.

"Uhm, she had a bit of a rough night. Demon duty and all," Spike said, not really sure what would be appropriate to tell her. Obviously, telling her that Tara was supposed to die was a big no-no.

Dawn slowly approached and crouched so she could see Ayla better. "It's so weird, during the day she looks all normal but when she sleeps and does that memory thing she looks so… weird. I mean, look at that color," Dawn said, curiously studying Ayla. "She has to look normal to be able to approach people," Spike said, thinking back towards Hector. No one in their right mind would talk to him if he was always in demon form.

"Now go back to bed, you wouldn't want her scrutinizing you while you were snoozing," Spike said, turning his head slightly to look out the window. "And I don't think Buffy will be too happy to see you on your feet so late."

"She's coming?" Dawn questioned before scurrying to the stairs and running up them. Spike chuckled at her actions, wondering how teenage girls got so… Talkative and silly. At least they were more entertaining now than they had been in his day. He gently removed his hand from Ayla's hair and slowly got himself out of the position of being Ayla's pillow. He spent a good few minutes trying to position her in what seemed like the most comfortable position. He had been so preoccupied with the whole ordeal that he failed to notice the front door opening.

Next thing he knew someone yanked by the collar away from Ayla.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The look on Buffy's face was not amused.

"What did you do to her?" he heard a shaky voice ask from behind Buffy. Leave it to Red to hand out accusations.

"I was making sure she's comfortable in the couch, she fell asleep!" Spike defended himself.

"Fell asleep or died?" Willow said dramatically, going for Ayla. "We know you can hurt her, since she's a demon," she said as she examined Ayla.

"We saw the broken things on the driveway and her van's open!" Buffy accused. Spike sighed before breaking free from Buffy's grip.

"Look, she had a bad night. Her friend came with bad news and she was upset. I just happened to be there to comfort her," Spike said, getting ready to leave the house. "Comfort her? I think you're the last person she'd want comfort from!" Buffy said, following him to the front door. Spike scowled momentarily before throwing his hands up. "Try asking her tomorrow what happened, since you won't bloody believe me! The girl just needed someone to lean on," he said storming off.

Buffy quickly turned around and looked at Willow expectantly. "What did he do to her?" she asked, assuming the worst. Spike liked violence and she was sure that hurting Ayla would be a part of that "like." "Looks like nothing. She's fine. Of course, I don't know what she's supposed to look like… as a demon but she seems fine," Willow commented with a wry smile.

"He better hope she agrees with him tomorrow." Both Buffy and Willow headed up to the stairs, not communicating any more with each other beyond necessary.

* * *

><p>Ayla emitted a high pitched squeal as she stretched out. Sleeping did her a world of good, allowing her to relax a little bit, keep her from being worn-out. "Buffy, she's awake!" Ayla recognized Dawn's voice by now and she turned her head to see Dawn standing in one of the entrances to the living room. "I don't think Buffy cares if I'm sleep or aw-"<p>

"Ayla! Are you okay?" Buffy burst into the living room, looking like she had been up since… a few hours ago. Ayla laughed and nodded, not sure what this was about. "I'm fine; I was just drained after last night." She thought back to the previous night and scowled. She had lost her cool, something she hadn't done since… God, she couldn't even remember when she last lost her cool.

"What did Spike do to you?" Buffy inquired, causing Ayla to furrow her brows. "Do to me? Nothing bad. He calmed me down; I was… throwing a tantrum." Ayla looked away from Buffy, slightly ashamed of her childish behavior. "He listened and was surprisingly nice; he didn't try to start anything," Ayla said with a thankful smile on her face. Buffy looked at her for a moment, taking in the way Ayla looked away, ashamed and how her fingers began idly fiddling with a button on the shirt she always wore, his shirt.

"Did something bad happen last night?"

"Oh no, Spike didn't-"

"I'm talking about with your boss," Buffy corrected quickly, not wanting to hear something in Spike's defense.

"Just bad news. But I'm going to fix it," Ayla said with a smile.

"Fix it? You can do that?" Buffy asked before tittering. "Of course you can. We can do anything," she corrected herself with a wink.

"It's worth trying anyways." The two headed into the kitchen. Ayla nodded to herself, she was going to fix it. No one was going to die on her watch, not even the one she came for in the beginning. A Slayer was supposed to save people, not let them die.

* * *

><p><em>In a dark alley way in Cuba<em>

"Hector, good to see you again," a short and old rue demon proclaimed, happy to see his spawn appear in the alley. "What took you so long?" he inquired, indicating his annoyance with his tone. The Spanish demon smile apologetically before pulling out a short lock of hair and offered it to his elder. The demon took the hair and inhaled deeply before sticking it in his mouth. It was a traditional offering to an elder in rue demon tradition but Hector always found it as unappealing.

"Sorry sir, I got sidetracked by a big regret in Iceland," he excused himself. "But you will be pleased with how things went down with Ayla."

The old demon looked up, interested. He refrained from speaking due to his full mouth.

"I told her what was going to happen and she refused to let them die. She's grown attached,"

"Just as they predicted," the older demon spoke, finally finished with his meal.

"She said she wasn't going to let anyone die on her watch." The two demons laughed in unison.

"I'll be sad to see her go though, she's quite talented at relieving people and few are like her," Hector commented, looking slightly sad about her fate.

"You know why we make them one of us, so they can fulfill a greater purpose. If she does what they say she will do, she finally becomes a true Slayer. Not that unenthusiastic, pacifist little girl she was. But someone who loves and treasures. A true Slayer thinks with her heart and fights with it too."

"I just think it's a shame to let her die like that."


	4. Honesty

**A/N:**I wanted to have this up wayyyy earlier but got a bad case of writer's block. T_T So I trudged through it and managed to cough this up. 3 Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

><p>In the cemetery the two Slayers, well one Slayer and one former-Slayer, sauntered around with stakes in their hands. It had been a few days since the "Hector" incident as it was now referred to as and despite being questioned by every single Scooby member Ayla had refrained from telling them what Hector had told her. It annoyed them initially and they seemed to feel betrayed that she wouldn't tell them, as if she didn't trust them.<p>

"Look, Buffy… You know I don't want to hide the truth from you. But if I tell you, I risk you all trying something to prevent it. You can't change the future," Ayla piped up, looking at her blonde counterpart with a hopeful expression on her face. _I just hope I can._ She thought to herself, making sure that her expression didn't change.

Buffy gave a small, forced smile. "I know, it's just terrible knowing that something bad is going to happen. I don't want to see any of us die or an unsuspected apocalypse," Buffy said, tilting her head to the side as she thought. "Not that we know about all apocalypses before the rituals begin but still. I want to stop this thing."

"It's not our job to interfere with the future."

"I thought you were going to fix it?" Buffy retorted, stopping to accentuate her point.

"I know. I am upset about it but I don't think I can go around and changing their plans. I have to do my job," Ayla said ruefully.

"And I have to do mine and my job is to save people!" Buffy said heatedly.

The two girls stood and stared at each other for a few moments, both trying to take in what was going on. They both wanted the same thing, although Ayla had begun to deny it. They wanted things to stay as they were with no problems, no deaths. They wanted everything peachy. But since they had both been Slayers, they both knew how things would end. Somebody would get hurt and somebody would be left in the shadows.

"Oh, before I forget, Xander and Anya want you to come to their wedding that's on Friday," Buffy suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"They're getting married?" Ayla wasn't surprised but taken aback by the sudden invitation.

"Yeah, a nice wedding with the whole family and friends gathering together. They didn't invite you earlier because… We didn't know you'd actually stick around," Buffy said with a weary smile.

Ayla nodded, understanding what she meant. "Groovy, count me in."

"Groovy, really?" Buffy asked with a look of disbelief on her face. Who says that kind of stuff?

"For your information, groovy was 'the word.' You weren't cool if you didn't use it," Ayla said with a grin as the two resumed walking. Buffy couldn't help but laugh at her comment. "Well, we just say cool now, groovy is sort of out of style, since, you know, the seventies," she commented. Ayla nudged her with her elbow as if she were reminding her of something. "We used cool a lot too, but I think groovy has more class."

"How does groovy have more class? Cool is way better. It just flows, you know?" Buffy defended. The two girls looked at each other before laughing. "This is ridiculous, we're arguing about a word!" Buffy stated and Ayla nodded in agreement. Buffy couldn't help but think it was funny; no one else could get her to squabble over something like which was classier, cool or groovy. This girl was able to bring out things that few others were able to bring out, probably because she understood Buffy to some degree. She understood what being a Slayer was like and she had died- technically. Heck, she had even slept with a vampire although hers didn't turn evil.

Ayla slowed down when she was at a familiar spot. The spot where Spike had interrupted the Slayer bonding time. A small smirk crossed on to her face as her mind wandered through the events of that night. She had been angry at him at the time and for a long time afterwards. Until he had managed to comfort her, she hated him more than anything in this world. Now, she wanted to go see him. Not for the physical bit of course (although that wasn't that bad) but to thank him. He had done good, helping her get some release that night.

"You know what, why don't you go home early? Have a girl's night or something," Ayla suddenly said, looking at Buffy who seemed surprised by this suggestion. "I mean, I can finish up here if there is anything and I want to get to Willy's. Haven't had some whiskey in ages," she added with a smile. Oh, if she could get her hands on some more whiskey everything would feel so much better. No more thinking about them dying, no more feeling guilty for sleeping with Spike or not being able to do anything about the future events. It would be perfect.

"That would be… Nice. I'm sure Dawn and Willow will be glad to see me." Buffy knew when to not ask more questions and she had a strong feeling that this was one of those times. If someone was hankering hard for whiskey, there must be some reason behind it. _Perhaps she really doesn't want to do her job._ "I'll see you tomorrow then," she said, reluctantly waving as she began walking away. Leaving patrol didn't feel quite right and fair but Ayla obviously didn't want her around, for one reason or another.

As soon as Buffy was out of sight Ayla began trying to trace her tracks. She would know the crypt where Spike stayed at in an instant if she saw it but as far as she could see, she didn't see a crypt. Feeling frustrated and impulsive, Ayla kicked a headstone, knocking it over. "Oh god," she mumbled, rushing down to her knees to fix its position.

"Careful, you're gonna piss a lot of blokes off if you knock down their headstones like that."

Ayla jumped to her feat and turned around swiftly with her dagger in hand, ready to fight. Her nose automatically scrunched at the sight of Spike and she slide her dagger back into the sheath. "Careful, you're gonna get staked by some chick if you startle her like that," she said in a mocking tone and a bad imitation of a British accent. She didn't show any joy at the sight of him but she was relieved that she didn't have to keep on looking for his crypt.

"Big words there, _Slayer_," he said, making sure to emphasize the word slayer.

"I didn't come to fight," Ayla said, standing akimbo.

"Well, look at you little miss determined!" Spike teased before chuckling.

"Cool your chops before I stake you," Ayla warned, receiving a raised brow and a questioning look from Spike. "Shut up," Ayla clarified, translating the phrase for him. "I was looking for you. I uhm, couldn't find our crypt."

"Couldn't find my crypt so you decided to flip a headstone?" Spike questioned with an amused look on his face. Unfortunately it was wiped clean off when her gray eyes drilled into him. "Geez, _Slayer_, lay off the venomous look," he muttered under his breath, well aware of the fact that she would be able to hear him. Ayla scowled before coming so close to him that they were practically face-to-face. Or well, face-to-chest at least. Ayla grabbed his shirt and pulled him so that he would bend down to her level.

"I wanted to thank you for the other night. I probably would have wrecked a lot of things hadn't you come along and stopped me," she said, letting go of Spike and pushing him rather lightly. "But if you're going to be a drag, I guess I should just drop it, right?" she asked, cocking a brow. Spike, balled over from the fact she had pulled him down, no more than a couple of inches between them, searched in his mind for a solution. What did she mean? Didn't she thank him by telling him that she was going to thank him?

"No, I mean. I didn't know," he managed to choke out the words, finally deciding on how to handle the situation. "You can thank me all you want, _Slayer,_" he said grinning cockily. Ayla stepped back, her red cheeks shaded by the darkness. "This is what they were talking about. An egocentric vampire who likes to think of himself as high and mighty. I honestly couldn't recall you being like this around me, ever, except last time, right before we fought," she hissed.

"Like you're any better!" Spike exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "You like to pretend you're so bloody cool with everything and then you go around letting it all flow when no one's there to see! And when you let someone in, just for a moment, you get all hostile when you realize that you might just care for someone."

Their last encounter hadn't been like that but Spike reasoned that it must have been because she had fallen asleep. Before that, every time they laid eyes upon each other there would be bickering of some sort, always the angry little Slayer he had left panting on the ground back at Woodstock.

"What do you know about me, huh?" Ayla challenged.

"After leaving Woodstock you locked yourself in your room and you barely spoke to your family. When you did, you shouted and screamed until Hector relieved you," Spike started, tilting his head and waiting for a reaction. He had done his fair share of researching, which included speaking to a P.I. who worked for her mother back in the 60s. "Then you proceeded to simply relieve your victims and sleeping with demons and vampires on the side." He took a step closer, hoping to intimidate her. She showed no amusing reaction, merely shock. "The few people you actually met more than once you would beat to a bloody pulp eventually, usually drunk out of your wits."

"You… How the hell do you know this?" Ayla asked angrily. Spike shrugged. "Just did a little asking around, that's all. There's not a demon bar in California that doesn't have at least one person in it who knows your name. You're a bloody celebrity," Spike explained.

"They talk about me?" Ayla asked, ignoring the fact that Spike seemed to be inquiring about her. Her lower lip quivered as he nodded. "Is it bad?" There was a look of utter dismay on her face. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her. He didn't think she would have taken something like this so seriously, especially coming from him.

"No, it's mostly good. They say you're strong, compassionate towards victims and you can drink barrels of whiskey," he said with a sympathetic smile. "Worst thing I've heard about you is that you're a crazy bitch but that ain't so bad, is it?"

"I suppose it could be worse," Ayla said with a frown. "I could tell you all the bad things I've heard about you but I suppose hearing that would only make you happy, since you're evil and stuff." They both laughed at her comment, knowing that it was pretty much true. Spike basked in the glory of being evil, although he had done a few good things that made people question which side he was on.

"So, how about some whiskey? Got bottles to no end in my crypt," Spike said, offering Ayla an apologetic smile. She returned it, having a feeling that he was perhaps apologizing by offering her whiskey, something he knew she liked. "Sounds good," she said as they began to head to his crypt.

* * *

><p>Buffy glanced at the clock before looking at Willow with a worried look. It had been nearly two hours since she had left the cemetery and there was still no sign of Ayla. But then again, she was going to go to Willy's and drown her sorrow.<p>

"I'm sure she's fine, she was a Slayer too you know," Willow said with a knowing look before grabbing some popcorn. The girls had camped out in the living room and watched movies and talked. Now that Dawn had gone off to bed, Willow and Buffy were finally able to talk about whatever. "So how are things going with demongirl? You know, patrolling and stuff?"

"Willow, it's rude to call her demongirl!" Buffy said jokingly and the two shared a giggle. "It's going well. She's pretty helpful out in the field and she likes the fight. It's definitely nice to be able to relax a little," Buffy said, throwing her head back in joy. "She definitely knows far more demons on sight than I do. I guess that that's what decades of… erhm, hanging out with them does to you," Buffy said, avoiding mentioning the fact that Ayla had been notorious for lashing out at demons, and not in the violent way.

"Speaking of… erhm," Willow said, playfully mimicking Buffy's avoidance. "Don't you think it's a little weird, what happened the other day?" She didn't wait for an answer before clarifying. "With Spike."

Buffy nodded, obviously distraught by the thought too. "I don't get it. How would he be able to calm her down? Last time I checked, they hated each other." She thought back to that one time in the cemetery when she had left Ayla to fight off Spike herself and come back hours later. How does somebody go from that to… being comforted? And Dawn said…

"Oh! Willow! I forgot to tell you, with all the commotion about Xander's wedding," Buffy said, remembering that she hadn't told Willow yet about what Dawn had told her. "That night, Dawn came downstairs a little before us. She didn't tell me right away because she figured I'd be mad for her staying up," Buffy began but quickly stopped because she realized she was about to begin rambling. "Apparently she was sleeping on him, well, his chest and he was," Buffy paused to make a face. "Caressing her hair and staring at her."

"That doesn't sound like hate," Willow said with a confused expression.

"No, it doesn't. And she actually said that he had calmed her down."

"Maybe it's more complicated between them than we know," Willow suggested with hesitant.

"I can see how there can be anything to complicate things. They slept together, he tried to kill her, she comes back and they fight. End of story," Buffy said nonchalantly.

"I don't know Buffy… Maybe they have a connection. Maybe he understands her or something."

Both girls looked at each other before laughing lightly. "It's silly, I know, but you never know," Willow said. Buffy nodded in agreement. "At least Spike has stopped stalking me and talking about how he loves me," Buffy said with a sneer. He was really starting to creep her out after they had kissed. It just… Wasn't right and he hadn't seemed to realize it. "That really was creepy," Willow said through the chewing of the popcorn.

"But I mean, he shouldn't just stop just because she's here," Buffy said, revealing the fact that her ego was bruised. He had counted the days that she had been dead and he would follow her around and now suddenly, he doesn't give a damn? "I mean, not that I want him to keep on going, it's just insulting."

"Buffy, you know how men can be. They jump at the first opportunity to get over a lost cause," Willow said. Admittedly, she was no expert and she had no proof of this theory but it would be what she would do. _But not really_. She thought to herself and she began, frustrated, to argue with herself whether this statement was actually true.

"Will, that's ridiculous. How is he going to get over loving me just because she's here? They hate each other," Buffy stated, grabbing a few pieces of popcorn.

"Then why hadn't we heard about his 'awesome' encounter with Ayla before? Wouldn't he be proud that he stabbed a Slayer?"

"Ashamed that he didn't kill her."

Both girls went silent for a moment, letting the theories soak in. They dismissed it quickly, deciding that it wasn't something they should bother to talk about. "I am so jealous of Anya and Xander. They get to get married and have… semi-normal lives," Buffy commented, grabbing a fistful of popcorn. "Amen to that, sister," Willow added, half-heartedly, her mind wandering towards Tara.

* * *

><p>"And then I said to him, buddy, that's the Burrower talking. Dude was so embarrassed that he just walked right out of the bar," Ayla said, causing both her and Spike to both go into a fit of laughter. Both of them had dug well into his supply of whiskey, leaving four bottles lying around the floor of his crypt. "Darrow, you're one hell of a demon. I hadn't heard about this snarky side of you," Spike said, making sure to steer clear of calling her a woman.<p>

"I'm not very often snarky until, well, post-whatever they do for fun," she replied, the laughter from her earlier punch line fading into a soft chuckle. She was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and her arms down on the ground to support her. Opposite her, sitting by the foot of the living chair, Spike was sitting comfortably at her level.

"I think I should get going," Ayla said, getting ready to stand up. This time she knew for a fact that she had been away for more than a couple of hours and the longer she was away the more likely it would be that somebody was waiting for her at Revello Drive, worried about her safety. She wobbled when she stood up and had to place her hand on the TV to support herself. "God, I haven't been this drunk since the eighties," she commented, running a hand through her hair.

"Leaving, now?" Spike suddenly popped up, more coordinate and in control of his body than she was. Ayla nodded quietly, still trying to regain her composure.

"Tell me, Darrow, how do you plan on fighting the baddies if you run into them on your way home? You can hardly stand on your two feet!" Spike said as he went over to her and helped support her by holding one of her arms by the elbow. This was something he hadn't really expected. He had seen her drink before but never had he seen her in a condition beyond slightly tipsy. Now she was border lining on drunk. No wonder really, the girl had a lot on her mind.

"I could fight them if I wanted," Ayla said with a determined look on her face. Spike laughed, thankful for the fact that at least she was comprehensible.

"I'm not saying you can't. But I don't think you'd win either," he smiled wryly.

"You know what I think, _William_?" Ayla asked, looking up so she could see Spike's face. "I think you're trying to get me to stay the night."

"_Slayer-_"

"No, I am talking," Ayla crossed her arms and a few moments of silence took over. It was clear that she had no intention of talking and he didn't want to be interrupted in telling her what to do. After all, she was tipsy and rather strong. He would rather not have his crypt destroyed by an angry girl who had a little bit to drink.

Ayla took the decision, after having thought over it for a while. She turned around quickly, causing her to stumble a few steps forward. "Don't," she instructed Spike as he had reached out to help her. She walked unsteadily to the stone that covered the hole which led to the cozy little bedroom he had stashed downstairs. She pushed it without much effort with the heel of her foot and disappeared into the hole. Unnerved by the way she seemed to disappear into the hole; Spike followed her down, only to be greeted with the sight of her lying on his bed.

"You know, you would think that, by making you a rue demon they would give you a crack at immortality," Ayla suddenly said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Like vengeance demons, live until you get yourself killed, you know?" She didn't even glance at Spike who had firmly planted himself on the bed.

"That's not the point of a rue demon and you know it," he said, reluctantly taking part in the conversation. He knew all that mumbo-jumbo about what their purpose was and, even though it was a good purpose and all, it was such a stupid "honorable" thing to do.

"I wonder how we die. Will we die just like humans? As if we never really were anything else?"

"Not in demon form, pet. Demon for you can't die from any weapon a human would die from."

Ayla shifted in the bed so that he head was on the pillow. Earlier that evening, on their second bottle of whiskey, she had decided that perhaps tonight she would let him in a little. Prove him wrong and show him that she really could show a little emotion without getting all violent. "_Ayla_, come on, let's get you home. That's where you wanted to go, right?" Spike suddenly said, not wanting her to wake up in his bed the morning after, angry at him for sleeping in the same bed. But she waved her hand in a manner that suggested that she just didn't care.

"I'm fine with staying here. I don't really want to get again," she mumbled, already half asleep. Knowing that there wasn't much else he could do, Spike got ready to up and leave, maybe watch some telly. But then a small hand grabbed at his wrist. He looked at the small redhead who was curled up on his bed. His **bloody** bed. He should have thrown her right out of it the moment she touched it, like he would have a couple of years back.

But there was something that happened around her. He didn't feel like he was supposed to be evil when she saw. No, it felt as if he was supposed to be good, like he owed it to her. He threw off his duster and boots before climbing into the bed. "I should be beating you for this," he muttered, allowing her to cuddle up to him. "Don't go around thinking you can come into my bed every night, pet. It's not a bloody motel," he kept on rambling, finding more and more things to tell her, trying to convince himself that this didn't feel right.

* * *

><p>Ayla hadn't been to a wedding since her Uncle Tom got married back in 1965 so this was definitely a surprise. There were demons all over the place, mingling with Xander's family and passing off as circus folk. She could smell the regrets and frankly, she didn't like the smell of many of them. Lots of small ones piled up and drowned with alcohol or repressed. Her nose scrunched up in disgust of the majority of the regrets. Impure, stupid and selfish. To make matters worse, she could feel that Willow was starting to feel a bit better which mean that Hector's promise of her and Tara getting back together must be close and that meant that… Ayla shook her head. All she had to do now was try to prevent this wedding from turning into a disaster.<p>

"Smelling all their flukes, luv?"

Ayla turned around and couldn't help but crack a smile when she saw the bleach blonde vampire. Unlike her, he was dressed in his usual casual outfit. "Way to show respect," she said, indicating that he was underdressed. He looked over her outfit, a colorful purple dress with lilac flower designs on it. "Way to outshine everyone in the room," he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Ayla asked, taken by surprise by the comment.

"Your skin, you're so bloody pale that the light is bouncing off of you," Spike retorted quickly, not thinking about his reply. It would be a damn mess if he ever admitted anything that indicated affection or want. "Get a tan," he said with a cocky smile, only for it to disappear when he noticed the look on her face. She looked hurt.

"Says the vampire," she said in a rather loud tone, causing Spike to look around in unease. "Shhhh, keep it down, pet. I don't think people would be happy to have a vampire hanging around at a wedding," he said sharply. For a moment Ayla glared at him before turning around and strutting off in a completely different direction. _Bloody hell Spike, can't even compliment the girl without lashing out._ He thought to himself bitterly, conflicted over whether he should be good or evil. "I'm soddin' evil," he murmured as he went to the bar.

"Didn't affect me," Ayla maundered as she nodded around to various guests. She smiled when she saw Xander enter the room. It pained her to know that he would leave Anya at the altar and she had a feeling that there was little she would be able to do to stop him from doing it. They looked so happy together and they were in perfect sync, well, as perfect sync as a human and ex-demon could be in.

She watched him intently, watching as a group began to form around him. Then she saw him, an old "man" who seemed rather keen on getting Xander's attention. After finally getting his attention the man pulls him aside violently. Being at almost the other side of the room the conversation was inaudible.

Suddenly it was as if a very strong regret appeared out of nowhere, causing Ayla to stumble backwards and then finally fall. She was dizzy and her stomach felt like it was about to explode.

"Ayla, you okay?" she heard a familiar voice ask. She looked up to see Buffy by her side and soon enough both Dawn and Spike had joined too. Ayla looked back, hoping to Xander but he was gone and so was the old man. "No, but I'll be fine," she managed to choke out the words and she stood up with the help of Buffy. "Go and look for Xander, please?" she asked and everybody seemed to look at her confused. "Just go. I think it's important."

With those words both Dawn and Buffy scattered to search for Xander and the only one left by Ayla's side was Spike. "You really don't look good, pet," he said, his brows furrowing with wonder. She had seemed fine just a few moments ago and not it looked as if she was going to burst any moment. Ayla didn't answer him; instead she headed directly to the bathroom.

In a matter of minutes her stomach had been emptied of her breakfast. She scowled, standing up from the toilet which had a portion of it broken because, in pain, Ayla had punched it. "That'll come out of my pocket," she muttered resentfully as she went to the sink and rinsed her mouth with tap water.

_What the hell was that? That wasn't normal regret… It was unnatural._

As soon as she opened the bathroom door she was greeted with the sight of Spike. "What is it?" he inquired, looking a bit worried. Ayla shook her head. "I can't fix this one Spike… It's that old man," she mumbled, gently rubbing her stomach in circular motions. "Fix this? What are you talking about?" Spike asked. Ayla looked confused for a moment before remembering that he hadn't known everything. As far as she remembered, she only talked about Tara dying.

"Hector… told me," she began, taking a large breath. "He told me that I would have to reap Xander too because he would leave Anya at the altar." Her eyes were focused on the floor, purposely avoiding Spike's gaze. "What? Why would he tell you about that? I don't see how that has anything to do with Willow and the last time I checked she was the reason why you were here!" Spike exclaimed, sounding a bit offended.

"He wanted me to take Xander too. Expand a little."

"He can piss off! How does he expect you to take both Xander and Willow? And let Tara die? Is he trying to ruin Buffy and Dawn's lives?"

"I'm not going to take them. I won't,"

"You know what the punishment for neglecting to reap people is, don't you?"

"I do."

They were both looking down, both melancholic about what lied ahead. Neglecting to do any form of relieving resulted in immediate death and an eternity in one hell dimension or another. Perhaps it was the reason why Ayla hadn't approached any potential victim before, not like she had approached Willow. She had grown to appreciate both her and Xander and just about everyone else in their little gang.

"It wasn't real, whatever that man showed to Xander," Ayla suddenly piped up.

"What wasn't?"

"He pulled something out of his pocket… An orb or something, and I was hit with massive regret. I'm talking about impulse-murder kind of regret. It was so strong that I would have felt pure bliss hadn't it been fake. Instead it made me lose my breakfast," Ayla said with a hopeless look on her face.

"Maybe we can get to Xander, before it's too late. Save the poor man from a big mistake," Spike suggested.

"No, it's too late. He feels the regret and he regrets it now, before it even happens," Ayla said as the two wandered back into the main hall where everybody was ready for the ceremony. In silence the two sat down on the back and began to wait patiently for the show to begin, although Ayla had a feeling that it wouldn't.

Then suddenly the feeling of hunger, of want to reap began to dwindle and Ayla look at Spike nervously.

"He's gone."

She frowned, angry at herself for not being able to prevent this and anxious because since this had happened, that meant that Tara's death wasn't far ahead. _I am so going to show them_. She thought bitterly as she crossed her arms and looked at Spike. Seemingly understanding her thoughts Spike nodded and smiled.


	5. Farewell

"Ayla, how are eggs and bacon?" Dawn asked busy preparing two nice warm cups of tea. The redhead turned around and smiled brightly. "They're coming along fine, perfect if I say so myself," she said happily, returning back to the pans on which one had four perfect round eggs, sunny side up and the other had bacon which had turned rather crispy.

"They're going to love this!" Dawn squealed with delight and Ayla couldn't hold back the laughter. Dawn was dedicated to making her sister feel better after the demon poisoned her to believe that Sunnydale was just a part of her imagination. Of course, she had tried to kill everyone but that's what delirium did to one. They made an extra set of breakfast for Willow, seeing that she deserved some love too. With all that had been going on with her, they felt that she hadn't gotten the love she was used to in a long time.

Fifteen minutes and they were done. Both plates were filled with eggs, bacon and toast and accompanied by a cup of tea. "Do you think they'll like it?" Dawn asked, looking at the dishes with suspicion. "Of course, and if not, they'll appreciate it," Ayla said, watching as Dawn headed for the stairs.

Ayla brought the plates and cups of tea into the dining room, feeling that the more formal the breakfast, the better her and Dawn's appreciation would shine through. She leaned against a wall, allowing her demon side to take over for a moment to assess the situation. Willow's mood had dropped recently which meant that things were getting worse with Tara, again. She scowled momentarily at the thought that she had no idea what was going on and the fact that she had no real way of telling what was going to happen.

As she heard footsteps on the stairs, Ayla's skin reverted back to its natural light color and she stood up straight. Dawn came in leading both Buffy and Willow into the dining room. "Oh my god guys, you didn't have to do this!" Buffy exclaimed, obviously happy about the breakfast. "Yeah, I mean. This is too much," Willow said, he smile betraying her words.

"We just wanted to show you guys how much we love you," Dawn said looking at Ayla with a smile.

_Love? Is that what this is?_ Ayla questioned herself as she smiled without restraint. She worried about these people, Dawn, Buffy and Willow… Everyone. She didn't want them to get hurt nor have their feelings broken. Seeing Xander leave Anya at the altar broke her heart and made her want to save Tara even more than before. She wanted to protect these people even though most of them were old enough to protect themselves. Or, they should be able to, at least.

"I wanted to thank you too, for being so generous and allowing me to stay here. I know I'm not the best houseguest or anything…" Ayla said with a crooked smile.

"What are you talking about? You help me patrol, watch out for us and help out at the house!" Buffy said after she finished chewing on some bacon. "You're one of the Scoobies now," Willow said with a genuine smile. Since she first stated her reason for being in Sunnydale, Willow had always seemed to dislike Ayla a bit. Not that Ayla minded, really. It was understandable seeing as she had gone to Sunnydale to reap Willow. Ayla's smile grew wider as she realized that their friendship had gotten to the level where that didn't matter anymore. Not to Willow or to Ayla.

"Never been part of a group like this before, sort of exciting," Ayla exclaimed, disappearing into the kitchen. She began to scrub at the pans relentlessly, trying to finish cleaning up as soon as possible, so that when Willow and Buffy finished there would be nothing for them to do in the kitchen.

She could hear them quietly talking about nothing in particular and she suddenly felt a need to talk to someone too. She wanted to thank them like she was thanking Buffy and Willow. Putting the pans away she darted into the dining room where Buffy, Dawn and Willow sat and chattered. "Oh, Ayla! Want to join us?" Dawn suggested with a smile. "Not now, skirt. I have to go talk to someone," Ayla said. Everyone seemed to become silent in an instant and the atmosphere in the room became tense.

"You're not going to talk to Xander are you?" Buffy inquired with a suspicious look on her face.

"What?" Ayla asked confused. It took her a moment to realize that they were indicating that she was planning on taking him like she was going to take Willow. "Oh nonono. I don't plan on reaping him. Never. I'd prefer not to do it to anyone anymore," she explained hastily, her voice shaky because of her being nervous. "I mean, maybe I'll drop by and share some donuts and let him talk it out but not that," she said with a firm expression on her face.

"Why is it called reaping? I mean, why don't you just say kill?" Willow asked all of a sudden.

"Well uh…" Ayla scrunched her nose in thought, trying to recall why it was called reaping. "Personally I don't like to say kill. I tend to stick to relieve or reap. We say reaping because it's sort of an art, going in at the right time and taking a person's regret. It has to been when the regret is the strongest, otherwise it's a bad reap. It's like harvesting fruits, you know? You have to wait until the exact moment when they're ripe enough," Ayla explained, satisfied with her answer.

"And relieving is because you let them get away from the guilt?" Dawn asked, receiving a nod from Ayla. "I know it's bad and all to kill people but I think you guys are doing it for a better reason than most demons," Dawn said thoughtfully. Ayla grinned. "Thanks, Dawn. It's not a just reason though, but yeah, trying to do well."

"Anyways," Ayla said, hoping for no more interruptions. "I have to go now," she said, awkwardly creeping towards the front door. "You know… talk to people," she said, straightening herself out. Why was she acting like she was embarrassed? It wasn't like they knew where she was going or where she was going was bad.

"Okay?" Buffy questioned, her tone indicating that she didn't know why Ayla had a need to explain. "I'll see you guys later," she said, waving them before heading out the door. She looked around and took a deep breath. It couldn't be too far away, Tara's death. Somehow the fact that Willow's mood got a little worse translated to Ayla as a warning sign. A sign that things were about to go into motion.

It was pretty much all Ayla could think about as she dropped by the butcher's to get a few pints of pig's blood. By the time she got to Willy's she had exhausted the thought of Tara dying so all she could think about now was getting to her desired destination. "Willy," she said, acting familiar with the bartender who hadn't bothered to look up when she entered the bar. The man looked up with a raised brow. She could tell that he was surprised to see her and it didn't really come as a surprise. She hadn't been at his bar since the night she met Spike. Mostly because of the fact that she was most of the time busy with the Scoobies or patrolling.

"A bottle of the Famous Grouse and some Georgia Peach Whiskey," she demanded, laying down more money than required. Obediently Willy gathered the two bottles and nodded in appreciation. "Thanks," Ayla said, heading out of the bar and out towards the cemetery. She was starting to look forward to her visit. It was like a little time off where she could actually enjoy herself a little and not have to constantly make sure that she didn't slip a wrong look or make anyone suspicious. Ayla laughed to herself, realizing that she had never really been cautious around anyone and they hadn't suspected a thing. She was really beginning to over think things.

"Hello? Anyone homeee? Spike?" Ayla's voice rung throughout the crypt but it simply echoed back, implying that the place was empty. Thwarted, Ayla sat onto the sarcophagus and placed the bag with the blood besides her and the bottles of whiskey at the other side. Her face was stuck in a deep scowl and she began opening the Georgia Peach Whiskey when a sound of something sliding startled her, causing her to let go of the bottle. Thankfully she still had Slayer like reflexes and she managed to jump onto the floor and catch the bottle before it hit the floor.

"Something wrong, pet?" A familiar British accent sounded from behind her and Ayla turned around and smiled happily when she saw the blond vampire. She gestured with her hand towards the blood and the alcohol. "We having a party now, huh?" he asked, approaching her with a grin. "Party all night," Ayla said, watching Spike intently as he went for the blood. Why did she suddenly have the urge to come over and bring him some goodies?

"You know I didn't mean it, what I said at the wedding," she heard suddenly, her eyes moving towards Spike who had resumed drinking the blood. "Mean what?" she asked, curious.

Spike groaned, as if he hadn't wanted to explain further. He threw the container of the blood away and took his place by her side. _This is bloody ridiculous. _He thought to himself, wondering how he should word it. What could he say without sounding… Soft? He was the Big Bad, for heaven's sake! He wasn't supposed to compliment her, not when she was a force of good. _Technically_. He noted enthusiastically, reminding himself that she was a demon more than a human and demons were generally… evil.

"When I said you outshone everyone. I didn't mean you were pale," he said, trying to keep his voice distant and cool. Yeah, that should do the trick, if she didn't hear how he felt, it would be fine. "You radiated."

"So I'm radioactive now?" Ayla dumbly joked and they shared a laugh.

"You bet." He played along, knowing that she was doing this on purpose. She was probably thinking the same thing as he was, that it was wrong to do stuff like this. The sex was fine, as long as the two of them kept it at a distance. "I know you usually drink Jack but I thought the Famous Grouse would be a good change for you," she said, holding up her own bottle and taking a swig.

"Trust me pet, I have had plenty of Jack's," Spike said with a wry smile. Ayla looked at him with a raised brow before letting a laugh escape her lips. "I've had a few myself," she said, trying to count up the Jacks in her head. Then she noticed a suggestive look from Spike. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of red as she extended her arm to hit his shoulder lightly. "You're such a pervert! I've only had two of those Jacks."

It was Spike's turn to take a swig and in contrast to Ayla's, his was unusually large. "So why'd you come here with the party supplies? Couldn't stay away from me?" he asked with a cocky grin, causing Ayla to roll her eyes. He was partially right, anyways. Something had pulled her here but if she wanted, she could stay away, Ayla thought stubbornly. "I wanted to thank you, for everything."

"Even for that bit in Woodstock?" he asked skeptically, almost instantly regretting his words. He expected an argument to ensue but to his surprise Ayla smiled crookedly.

"I guess in a way, yeah. If it hadn't been for that incident I probably would have gone on like I had, died a Slayer death and that would have been the end of it. But I got to see so many things, learn so many things," she said, a distant look growing in her eyes. She looked into Spike's beautifully blue eyes. "Met all these amazing people. All because you were a vampire."

Spike couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted. One side of him wanted to cheer on that he had managed to make her life so good while another was angry because it was the monster in him that she was thankful to, not the man. It wasn't who he was that had changed her life but it was what. Ayla didn't take long to notice that something had obviously affected him, something she said and it didn't take her long to think of what it might be.

"Do you remember what I said to you, when we were rolling around, trying to kill each other?" Ayla challenged, sure that he wouldn't have a clue.

"I can't recite if, if that's what you're looking for, love. But yeah, I know what you said. Something about us being the same, monsters with feelings and shackles." Not even a second after he had finished the sentence did he see where she was going with this. She felt like she was a monster too, even back then. It wasn't about him not being a man but rather that they were one the same level. Equals.

Spike chuckled. "I appreciate that, pet. Although I embrace my shackles now." He admitted bluntly and the two of them laughed in unison.

"I never knew you understood Irish," Ayla said with a thoughtful look.

"I don't know a bleedin' word. I had Giles translate it for me right before I met you fighting those vamps."

"The same night? You're lying! And there's no way you would have remembered that," Ayla protested.

"Not lying, I swear. You're right, I didn't remember it. But Hector wrote it down when I met him." The two of them shifted their positions so that instead of being next to each other, they were facing each other. The way Ayla folded her arms in a vexed manner made Spike regret telling her about Hector. But then they fell back down to her side and she looked away. It all seemed to convenient, Hector meeting Spike and writing down the message. Being in Sunnydale on a mission beforehand only to be summoned by a friend of "the mission"?

"I didn't come to argue. Just, wanted to be here," Ayla said, relaxing once again and taking a large sip from the bottle she had placed on the sarcophagus.

"I thought you came to thank me?" Spike said with a grinning dancing on his lips.

"Can't I want to be here, just to thank you?" Ayla challenged with a raised brow.

"Stay as long as you want," Spike said, raising the bottle in a celebratory manner.

* * *

><p>In the course of well over eight hours, Ayla and Spike had gone from leaning against a sarcophagus to lying on his bed. They had never taken the time to stop and talk to each other and now that they had, they found that they really weren't that bad. There was no reason to be at each other's throats or conceal what they really thought. They were both monsters, and monsters didn't conceal anything.<p>

"Man, I think if I talk anymore, I'll lose my voice," Ayla said, tittering slightly. "But I'm glad I did this. Didn't know I could like you and not feel bad about it," she said in a playful tone.

"Well that's exactly what a bloke wants to here," Spike said sarcastically, causing Ayla to giggle. "You're not the only one though. Didn't know I could ever accept what happened between us at Woodstock." The room fell silent for a few moments as Ayla let the information seep in. Did he regret it?

"It's been bugging me for decades. I mean, you saw right through me and it felt like I saw right through you-"

"You did."

"Thank, love. I literally betrayed you as soon as she came. It felt right, don't get me wrong. Dru will always be my dark goddess. But the way everything happened, it just stuck with me, replaying in my minds every few years," he confessed sheepishly. A vampire wasn't supposed to feel guilty and that was far from what he felt but he felt something else. A sense of betrayal or something along those lines.

"Well if it hadn't happened that way then we wouldn't be here," Ayla pointed out, slightly elated with the fact that he had thought about it, more than once… More than twice. Ayla opened her mouth to say something else but it was nearly instantly covered with Spike's lips. Instinctively her arms wrapped around him and they pulled each other closer until their bodies were pressed close together.

It wasn't the same as the last times. This wasn't quick or rushed. It was simply passionate and desperate, much like their first time together had been. "Oh god," Ayla muttered when Spike's lips left for some other place than her own. A shudder travelled through Ayla as he nibbled on her neck. Greedily she began tugging at his shirt, trying to pull it off, resulting in him look down to her as he hovered over. "Oh no you don't love, I get the honors of seeing the goods first," he said, pulling off the shirt that had once belonged to him and almost tearing off her t-shirt.

"I love this," he said, gently going from freckle to freckle on her chest. "Freckles?" Ayla asked, slightly entertained by the concentrated look on his face. He didn't answer her; instead he leaned over her chest, eyeing the bra. _Front hook, bloody convenient._ He thought to himself as he quickly unhooked the bra, revealing the two perfectly round breasts. With a cocky grin on his face, Spike slowly allowed his lips to gently make contact with her nipple and suckled, causing her to moan loudly.

"Spike," it sounded as if she was gasping so that she could say his name. Spike moved so that he was face-to-face with her once again. "You can't be out of breath now, we're hardly started," he said grinning. Competitively, Ayla grabbed his shoulders and pushed the two of them so that she was on top. "Not out of breath, just…" Her hand slid up his shirt momentarily before traveling downwards, smoothly slipping into his pants. Her hand was so warm that it aroused him even more than he had been.

Ayla drew out her hand and smirked. "Now, be a good boy and take off your shirt." She giggled slightly, still drunk from the massive amounts of whiskey she had consumed over the day. Spike sat up, still keep Ayla sitting on his lap and he drew off his shirt in no time and before he could throw it away their lips were locked once again and their wandering hands found ways to strip them of all impedimenta which stood between their bodies.

Their bodies clung together, his aching bulge rubbing against the warmth between her legs, but not entering. Ayla pulled away from the kiss and looked at Spike pleadingly. "I want to hear you ask for it, _Ayla_," he whispered, leaning in to nibble on her earlobe. "Please," she managed to squeeze the word out of her mouth. "You know you have to do better," Spike said, facing her once again with that cocky grin on his face. "_William_, I want you," she paused, looking away for a moment before her eyes met his. "I want to be with you, now."

Satisfied, Spike gently lifted her off of him and placed her on the bed and leaned over her. They exchanged a small smile, some sort of recognition that this time, they were doing it right. Slowly he entered the moistness between her legs. They both let out a sound of pleasure as soon as he was fully in. Ayla's arms wrapped around Spike protectively as he began to thrust slowly and provocatively.

"Didn't know we could have it this good," Ayla said, fitting one or two words between the lip locking. With every thrust the tempo was increasing and both of them moving their hips in new directions, alternating between causing themselves pleasure and giving the other.

Ayla's lips strayed away from Spike's and traveled to his jaw. From there she slowly made her way to his neck, where she bit every inch she could think of. She was pleased with the result when Spike seemed to writhe slightly with every bite, thrusting harder as if it were an urgent matter he had to attend to. Crazed with satisfaction, Ayla's nails dug into his back.

"We can have it this good," Spike promised, his head hanging close by her neck. God, he wanted to bite so bad, give her the pleasure she was causing him with her little bites, of course, he could do things she would never be able to do, seeing that he was a vampire. A few sips would do, just sinking his fangs into her… The thought was divine. But he knew he had to keep himself away, refrain from biting. She was, after all, a demon in the end which meant that her blood could possibly be poisonous to him.

"Then give it to me!" Ayla commanded, her voice louder than it had been all night. It was beginning to get hard, controlling herself.

"Always," he promised, situation his hips so that he would hit the magic spot. The one he had found last time.

"Oh god!" She couldn't contain herself.

It seemed to last forever, the moment when they were in perfect sync, perfect pleasure. She could feel him pulsating within and he could feel her tighten on him. "No," Ayla pleaded the moment he began to pull away. Small smiles slipped past both of their lips as he allowed himself to rest his head in hollow between her shoulder and her neck. He took a deep breath, basking in her scent. It wasn't very unlike the first time. Whiskey, peaches. He could smell other things, her blood for one… Bacon and a distinct smell that only the women in Revello drive bore.

"See what happens when you take your time pet?" Spike said, raising his head so that he could look into Ayla's eyes. Her cheeks turned bright red. "You mean when I let it be good?" Ayla said, suggestion that they had taken their time before. 'Whatever," Spike said blithely, slowly pulling out of her and lying by her side.

"I hated you," she said, plain and simple, causing Spike to look at her.

"I hated you too," he replied, confirming that the past tense was mutual.

"Now I would like to have you."

"You have me."

Slowly they began to drift asleep, both worn out from the combination of excessive drinking and sex. Before finally finding herself in dreamland, Ayla repositioned herself so that she had one hand on his chest and her head on his shoulder. "For now," she murmured, having a feeling that she knew what was coming.

Ayla's eyes fluttered open instinctively. She didn't know what time it was but she knew it was morning. She carefully removed herself from the bed, doing her very best to avoid waking him. If she was lucky, he would be out all day. Ayla thanked herself that they had begun in the bedroom, since most of her clothing items were in nearly one pile. She got dressed quietly, trying to ignore a knot that was forming in the pit of her stomach. This was definitely it, the day that Tara would die.

With tenderness, she neatly folded the shirt that she had worn when he stabbed her, all those years ago and place it on the end of the bed. She pulled out a small note that had been sitting in the pocket for a few days now. Inside was written a simple quote that she hoped would find him well if things were to be bleak for one reason or another. "Later," she said, taking one last look at him before heading out of the crypt.

Ayla was pleased as she walked towards Revello Drive. Not only had the previous day been extraordinary but the weather was superb. As she paced quickly, she wondered whether they had been worried about her. Whether they thought that she was in trouble of some sort. Ayla shook her head, if she was lucky, they would have understood that it was an important event to her. She turned her head as if she was expecting Spike to follow her but, obviously, he wasn't. The sun was bright enough to dust even the sturdiest vampires by a small touch.

She could see a car parked outside the Summers' residence and she immediately recognized it as Xander's. Her mind wandered towards the fact that she was supposed to reap him too. A scowl began to form on her face but it was interrupted by a big bang. _Bang?_ Ayla thought with panic, realizing that that meant that… She closed her eyes and recalled that Hector had said that a shot went through a window, the shot that killed Tara. It must be Willow's. Ayla closed her eyes in frustration, trying to muster up the power to teleport.

It was always bad, teleporting, but she had succeeded. She didn't even take the time to survey the room, instead she followed her instinct and took a step to the left and began focusing on switching to demon mood. In a matter of seconds her skin had turned blue and scaly but it was a little too late.

"Ayla?" she could hear Willow ask from behind her. She wanted to answer but she fell down instead, gasping. "Oh god," Willow muttered, both her and Tara kneeling down to see Ayla better. "Ambulance," Ayla managed to mutter. Both witches looked at each other skeptically. "You know we can't when you're in demon form, Ayla," Tara said sympathetically. Ayla shook her head, raising her left hand to the window and pointing.

Both witches stood up, dreading what was to be found outside. "Buffy…" Willow said, obviously distraught by the events. But not too distraught, since after taking a moment to assess the situation she ran to the phone and began dialing furiously and begging for an ambulance.

Tara stayed by Ayla's side, looking at her with a melancholic expression. "You knew, didn't you?" she asked quietly, trying her best to keep her composure. Ayla nodded painstakingly before giving a small smile. "You or me." Her words were barely comprehensible but Tara understood. Within moments Willow was back, announcing that the ambulance was on its way and that Xander knew. Tara looked at Willow and she felt a huge wave of gratefulness flow upon her. She would have been taken away before they could ever really love each other again, more. Like they should of.

"Willow, she sacrificed herself for me," Tara stated, her voice shaky and tears welling up in her eyes. The two witches looked to Ayla who had reverted back to human. "No, gi-" Ayla said, struggling to breath. Willow suddenly grabbed something from a drawer and ran over to Ayla and pressed down on the gunshot wound which was now obvious, her shirt quickly going from green to red. "Come on Ayla, you and Buffy can make it," Willow said reassuringly.

The ambulance arrived about five minutes later, taking both Buffy and Ayla.

* * *

><p>"Bloody hell, you wore me straight out pet," Spike mumbled, stretching his limbs in every direction before realizing that the girl he was speaking too wasn't there. Figuring she must have left to attend to Buffy-matters he got out of bed and slowly picked his clothes together. He could feel that it was alright evening. Bloody hell, he hadn't gotten such a good sleep in ages.<p>

As he took one last look of the room before leaving, he noticed a familiar sight on his bed. "So she is here," he muttered, grinning. "Knew she wouldn't leave without-"

He stopped when he realized that it was folded very neatly, which didn't make sense since he nearly tore it off of her. And a note. Spike couldn't help but feel that it was something he didn't want to see but since she left it there, she must have really wanted him to see it. He picked it up and gently unfolded it.

_How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. It's all said and done, it's real, and it's been fun._

Angrily Spike crumpled up the piece of paper in his hand and threw it to the floor. "Can't even use her own bloody words," he mumbled. He recognized quotes when he saw them and she had had the nerves to write two on a goodbye letter to him. No, a soddin' note. Not an explanation or an apology, just goodbye.

Spike threw his fist into the bed, causing something to break but what broke, he didn't know nor did he care. He felt like he could tell, like somehow he had been connected to her but now the connection was broken. She wouldn't have left him, not after yesterday. "Stupid bint," he grumbled, standing up again and hitting the wall, managing to hurt his fist.

"Shouldn't have fallen asleep." Now the words were directed to himself. "You could have stopped her. Could have saved her bloody life. Let someone else save Tara." His sentences kept on going but the words became incomprehensible as his voice began to crack and suddenly, he found himself sobbing harder than he ever had. He had had her, by the fingertips. They were so bloody close to making it. God, he hated himself and he hated her. Why hadn't everything been okay to begin with? Why did they have to bloody hate each other?

He found the note on the floor, crumpled into a little ball. He smoothed it out and was met with the side he hadn't looked at before throwing away the paper. On it was scribbled a short message and this time, he was sure it wasn't a quote.

_I believe I love you. Tweet, tweet._

He couldn't help but let a chuckle escape his lips as he remembered telling her, a little more than thirty years ago, that he was free as a _fucking bird. Tweet, tweet._ "Free." He said to himself, trying out the idea that she was finally free from something. But he hated it. He would rather have wanted her in shackles, with him. Two monsters, because monsters don't save people and monsters don't say goodbye.

But she said goodbye and she saved someone.

She wasn't a monster.

* * *

><p><strong>An:** And that concludes Saints&Sinners. I hope you enjoyed. Sorry if the last chapter has some inconsistencies or faults, I was desperate to finish it and it's 3AM now (desperate as in, I wanted to see how it ended.). I wanted to add so much more to the end but this just seemed like a fitting ending. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for reading. :3 Oh, and if anyone is interested in knowing, Spike eventually goes and gets her dagger and the Icelandic dictionary he had looked into. It's just a little detail I had set in my head, he had to have something!


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